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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Encourage, and not criticise the IGP – Sir Wenger



The public uproar against the recent actions of the police in arresting politicians, satirists, cartoonists and probing law lecturers have led many to criticise the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
The feeling of injustice was heightened when pictures emerged of PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli being led barefoot and in handcuffs when produced at the Magistrates court this morning while at the same time, Jho Low, accused of diverting US$700 million of public money remains very free and very chubby.
These scenes have led to PAS vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man calling for an end to the hostilities between the DAP and PAS in order to focus their efforts in calling for the IGP's resignation.
To understand this particular line of thinking, we must disassociate ourselves from all the negative images and connotations described above and consider rationally the context, the challenges, the political subtext, the common motivation and the end goal.
The context is that after the 2013 general election, Barisan Nasional was returned to power, albeit with a smaller majority, but a sizeable majority nonetheless.
In the following months, there were calls for uprising against the government and several cases of race baiting, the case involving the Alvin Tan being one of the most prominent examples.
On August 15, 2014, a group of 60 Umno division chiefs led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob met with Khalid and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail demanding immediate and prompt action against seditious messages online.
This was unprecedented in the history of the police and soon enough, many were hauled up under the Sedition Act. In the first phase, those who were arrested in the dragnet included Azmi Sharon, the Universiti Malaya law lecturer, who was arrested for what was considered expressing an opinion of law on the powers of the royalty.
The second phase of arrests started soon after the verdict for the sodomy trial of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was delivered, when lawyers, politicians and cartoonists criticised the guilty verdict delivered by the panel of judges. This included the arrest and incarceration of Nurul Izzah Anwar over her speech in Parliament.
This was soon followed by the third phase, where there were arrests over the “#KitaLawan” rally, which included a probe on Dr Khoo Ying Hooi, a research fellow at Universiti Malaya over an article she had written in The Malaysian Insider.
There were four issues interspersed in the three phases described above – one was the allegations of preferential treatment to Umno politicians during sedition investigations, Sirul’s escape to Australia, the 1MDB crisis and allegations of seditious statements being made over the hudud issue.
Now we focus on all possible outcomes. The outcomes could be: a) wanting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be released; b) wanting those arrested under the #KitaLawan probe to be released and for the police to refrain from using the sedition act against opposition politicians; c) a closure to the hudud issue, either for or against; and d) a successful probe on the 1MDB issue which has caused our currency to plunge and our nation to be made a laughing stock worldwide.
If we consider carefully the context, the only issue for which the IGP has power is item b), the issue of people being arrested under the Sedition Act and item d) probing the 1MDB scandal.
Now we shift our attention to the political subtext. The political subtext is that public anger is being directed against the IGP. This is something the IGP should realise for himself – the politicians have allowed him to bear the brunt of public anger when really he is not at fault.
It is one of the oldest tricks in the political handbook and you can see it because the prime minister has not come to defend the IGP at this time. He is letting the IGP take the heat, and he should man-up and come to defend a public servant for undertaking his task. I hope he does this after his people read my posting.
And this boils down to the final analysis – either continue to demand that the IGP resigns over the sedition crackdown or instead to encourage the IGP to literally commit “career suicide” by probing thoroughly the 1MDB issue.
Now consider this issue holistically – what is the gain in asking the IGP to resign?
Will it free Anwar? No.
Will it change the Sedition Act? No.
Will it change the government? No.
Will it cause opposition MPs, cartoonists and law lecturers to be free from being probed under the Sedition Act? Perhaps “Yes” – but the opposition politicians are gaining much political mileage from these crackdowns. Images of Rafizi Ramli being led in handcuffs and barefeet are causing many Malays to question whether or not it is fair for Rafizi to be treated like this when those involved in the 1MDB scandal sip champagne and are free to go about their business.
Most importantly, will all this public pressure actually work? The answer to that surprisingly is perhaps, yes.
Politicians are notorious for using public officials for their own agenda and then leaving them out to dry. These are all the political tricks that keep on being played for a long time.
That is why in our thinking it is left to actually encourage the IGP rather than criticise him. The IGP is facing a task that many of us, if we are honest to ourselves, will possibly “cop out”.
As the head of the police, he is in charge of an investigation into the 1MDB scandal that involves people who are extremely close to a sitting prime minister. Against this backdrop, the political elite such as Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob have decided to cast their support for the prime minister, claiming that the 1MDB scandal is a political issue and which has led many to feel that this case will turn out like the PKFZ.
So, literally, if the IGP decides to give his men the backing to investigate this case to its final conclusion he may face some significant challenges.
Do you want a job like that? Is that a responsibility that you can handle? Will you go charging against the most powerful forces in the country with the only satisfaction is that under your watch, you upheld the law and the Constitution? Are you that patriotic?
Those are the tough questions that we should ask for ourselves. But that is why we should respect the police.
We know that during the times of national emergency, the police were there in harms' way – evacuating people from raging flood waters. The police also are there when facing off against criminals who shoot back, and sometimes they suffer injuries as a result.
They are there to man traffic when lights break down under the sweltering hot sun and with the exhaust fumes. They are brave people who don’t get paid much. They too will have to pay GST when ostentatiously the government is using public money to bail out 1MDB.
Thus, we instead chose to encourage the IGP to be brave as well when probing the 1MDB scandal, even though it could mean going up against powers that have scared Umno division chiefs, government ministers and other civil servants into making a silly statement to the effect that what which is a crime instead be considered as a political issue. These are tough decisions which require a man who is much braver than the common man.
Good luck, sir! The fate of the country with respect to upholding our laws lies on your shoulders.
* Sir Wenger reads The Malaysian Insider.

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