Contradictions galore

Okay, Pakatan Rakyat may lose Selangor. But at least we do not say negative things about the opposition, as what many of you here would like to see. Winning or losing the next general election should be a secondary issue.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Some people sent me nasty messages and told me to stop writing. They do not like what I have to say about the opposition. So just before the New Year I stopped writing.

Some people say what is the purpose of writing all these English language articles? My English speaking readers are convinced enough and it is the Malay readers whom I need to swing. So I stopped writing in English but since I am not able to write in Bahasa Malaysia I recorded my narratives instead. So, since then, you have been getting my views in Bahasa Malaysia and recorded in MP3.

Some people do not like these recordings and want me to start writing again. They feel that I should also produce transcripts of my recordings. So this means I do the same work twice. I first record my views. Then I transcribe them and publish the text version as well. This will of course take hours to do and will leave me with very little time to do other things.

Actually, whatever I do will never satisfy everyone. When I write they tell me to stop. When I communicate in English they say to do it in Bahasa Malaysia. When I criticise the opposition they get angry. When I stop talking about the opposition and stop warning them about this, that, or the other, they get into a mess like with the Selangor State Secretary issue.

Now banners with opposition logos are appearing all over Shah Alam whacking the Selangor Sultan. The Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad, says that it is Umno and not the opposition who is not behind these banners. The question is: how is the Sultan taking it? Does he too believe that it is Umno and not the opposition who is behind these anti-Sultan banners?

On 24th January 2011, an emergency session of the State Assembly is going to be held to amend the State Constitution so that the state government can decide the top posts in the Selangor State Administration.

Pakatan Rakyat, of course, does not have two-thirds majority in the Selangor State Assembly so they will need Barisan Nasional’s support. And if Barisan Nasional does not support the bill then it will be defeated. I will not make any critical comment about this but will allow the result of 24th January to speak for itself.

However, considering that the ‘policy’ of both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat is to oppose anything the other side proposes in Parliament and the State Assemblies, I do not put much hope in Umno also supporting the opposition move to amend the State Constitution.

Nevertheless, assuming that Umno does support Pakatan Rakyat’s move to amend the State Constitution, will the Sultan sign the bill? What if the Sultan rejects the bill and refuses to sign it? Will Pakatan Rakyat try to shove it down the Sultan’s throat?

Assuming that Umno also votes in favour of the amendment and Pakatan Rakyat gets the bill approved but the Sultan rejects it and Pakatan Rakyat then goes to war with the Sultan, would this help the opposition cause? Pakatan Rakyat and the Sultan would now become mortal enemies and His Highness would support any move by Najib to grab back the state from the opposition.

You still want me to write? Nah, I don’t think so. You see, when I write I am always critical.

I know, why not I write something in support of the opposition and make you all happy?

Pakatan Rakyat should just hold the emergency session this 24th January whether they can get two-thirds support for the amendment or not. Then Pakatan Rakyat can hold ceramahs and explain to the people what happened. This would embarrass both the federal government as well as the Sultan. Then leave it to the people to decide in the next general election who is right and who is wrong.

Of course, Umno will be able to use this issue to convince the Malays that DAP is anti-Sultan and that PKR and PAS have no balls and that DAP is actually calling the shots in Pakatan Rakyat.

Well, we will just have to cross our fingers and hope that the Malays are smarter than that and will not be fooled by Umno’s propaganda. And if the Malays do believe these lies that Umno is spinning: well, we will find out come the next general election once the votes are counted.

Of course, by then it will be too late. But then what is important is that we must say nice things about the opposition and not give ‘ammunition’ to Barisan Nasional to use against Pakatan Rakyat. Okay, Pakatan Rakyat may lose Selangor. But at least we do not say negative things about the opposition, as what many of you here would like to see. Winning or losing the next general election should be a secondary issue.