Politics of lies and deceptions will never end

 

Did anyone of us actually believe that the current crop of politicians in our midst will ever stop politicking?

If I did, then I have to be the greatest fool to have ever walked the surface of the earth. Politicians, folks, can never stop politicking. It’s their bread and butter.

The politics industry has always been competitive. Yes, it is an industry; politics is a business. Like all businesses, politicians have to compete for customers, fight tooth and nail over them if necessary. (Think of the brawl at Low Yat Plaza last week caused by a dispute over customers. Politicians are like those selling computers and mobile phones fighting for a larger clientele.) Isn’t that a fact?

How many times have we heard politicians, from both sides, telling (pleading, advising or snapping) each other to stop politicking but to concentrate on helping the suffering rakyat and assist the health authorities to flatten the Covid-19 pandemic curve?

What caring and responsible people they must be, but who has been politicking non-stop? Certainly not the people.

Oh, have we not noticed too how political leaders have suddenly become such experts at using the pandemic as a lame excuse/reason whenever they are cornered during political upheavals?

When the Yang di-Pertuan Agong finally granted Anwar Ibrahim an audience in early October, supposedly to prove that he has the numbers to form a new government, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was quick to snipe at the opposition leader: “I was busy attending to the Covid-19 situation while he (Anwar) was at the Istana”.

What was Muhyiddin’s message? Simple. He has been busy working hard for the people and country, unlike his chief opponent who was more interested in politicking and bringing down the government.

But we cannot blame the prime minister as he was probably not aware that sniping at opponents is also a form of politicking. Or was Muhyiddin only pretending as he was among those who called for a stop to politicking.

We do know that even those holding the highest office of the land are also guilty of making silly and stupid statements when they feel threatened, and their career is on the line.

Why, even the most powerful man on the planet, US President Donald Trump, falls in the same category. The White House released a photo of the president working at his desk on his first day at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center where he was receiving treatment for Covid-19. What showmanship!

This was in early October when Trump was fighting an uphill battle for re-election. No surprise that he eventually failed to secure a second term.

We are now in the last month of the year - December. The pandemic aside, 2020 is a year many of us would rather forget – where the political front is concerned.

Pakatan Harapan, a coalition with no discipline and no leadership (as we are now aware), turned out to be a total train wreck dashing the hopes of their supporters. It gave "everything" – the worst of politics there is – to the people except hope. Today, I would describe Harapan as a hopeless entity, seriously unworthy of its name.

The Budget 2021 blunder on Nov 26 in Parliament could prove to be the final nail in Harapan’s coffin. Standing down on the voice vote at the policy stage was a very dumb move and proved to be a total disaster today.

Whatever Anwar’s reasons might be to request Harapan MPs to stand down, they were unacceptable to the majority of Harapan supporters. Indeed, Anwar’s days as opposition leader and Harapan chairperson are numbered as calls grow louder for him to step down.

The Perak coup last Friday is yet more proof that politicians, even allies (in this case, Umno and Bersatu), can never stop politicking.

The toppling of the menteri besar was the worst of the politics of lies and deceptions we have witnessed since the Sheraton putsch last February.

Now, Umno was unable to work with the Bersatu menteri besar which they managed to topple but last night, the party pledged to form a new Perak government with Bersatu and PAS.

Hey, what is going on? These politicians think that the people are idiots, unable to see the lies, deceptions and mistrust among them. Perak is a classic case of self-serving politicians whose sole objective is to ensure the survival of their careers. The people were never in the equation.

We also saw and heard how the Perak DAP chair jumped the gun by declaring that his party was prepared to work with Umno, much to the chagrin of his other DAP colleagues in the state.

Perak DAP chairperson Nga Kor Ming

With the Umno declaration of wanting a Perikatan Nasional state government in power again, the state DAP leader must be left red-faced. His colleagues were right – never ever sleep with the enemy.

Add in the Kedah MB spat with MIC in recent days, and we can expect more senseless and nauseating politicking before the dawn of the new year.

Let me conclude with something light which just came into my inbox. It reads: “I asked a doctor today how long he thinks this Covid-19 thing will last. He responded, ‘How should I know? I am a doctor, not a politician’.”

That says it all, I suppose.

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is the author of Hijack in Malaysia: The Fall of Pakatan Harapan. Obtain autographed copies from sirsiah@gmail.com. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.