Enemies gather at the gate as DAP mulls Ramasamy's fate

It was time to call Penang Chief Minister II P Ramasamy’s big bluff. “Godfather” Karpal Singh did just that.

Ramasamy has forgotten his roots, churned the Tamil newspapers, especially those controlled by the rival BN coalition. He has allowed the trappings of office to go to his head which became swollen, as a result, to the point of bursting and spilling its contents all over the place.

Indeed, this is quite unnecessary distraction and disruption. Ideally, public officials should focus on the work at hand, get work out of people, get the job done and deliver the goods. The people are watching. Instead, it looks like Ramasamy is just simply getting in the way and wasting everybody’s time by making a mountain out of a molehill.

As his party mates say, Rama had no business carrying on as if Penang was his very own fiefdom and that he could pin unflattering labels, which didn’t have an iota of truth, on national leaders who have long served the party through thick and thin including spells in detention.

Even Mario Puzo would have been floored by the drama!

Karpal may have behaved at times like a Godfather – apologies to Mario Puzo – but that does not mean the opposition party subscribes to the Mafia culture. Godfather is a cliché that has no place in a party like the DAP. It’s more relevant in Umno which has Mahathir Mohamad breathing down the neck of the Supreme Council members in the party.

Karpal pointed out that Ramasamy, who was carrying on more and more like a warlord, was a “creation of the DAP”. It’s true that it was the DAP who opened the doors to Ramasamy after a state-run university (read BN) dismissed him for speaking up on several 'sensitive' issues.

With due respect, Ramasamy is a mere drop in the mighty DAP ocean. He would be well advised to prostrate himself before the great Karpal, apologise profusely for insulting him before the whole nation and promise that he’s prepared to do everything possible to rehabilitate and redeem himself in the eyes of the party and the people.

Then let DAP and the people decide whether if he is for real or just another political opportunist. "We hope to resolve this issue as soon as possible," DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told reporters earlier this week.

Tough but not impossible for Ramasamy

Critics - perhaps with ulterior motives - say it’s a foregone conclusion, for a myriad number of reasons, that Ramasamy’s career as a legislator is coming to an end. They insist he is bound to lose at the 13th general election, but it may be that they are trying to replace him with their own candidate on the DAP ticket.

For this, Ramasamy can blame extremist groups like Hindraf Makkal Sakthi and the Human Rights Party Malaysia (HRPM) for watching him like hawks. A former University professor, Rama has been tried, measured and found wanting by these political NGOs, although to be fair, the evaluation by the likes of racist hot-heads like P Uthayakumar and brother Waythamoorthy are hardly worth the paper it's written on.

This brings us to the issue of why DAP should dilly-dally over Ramasamy especially since the man himself has gone public with a statement that he’s prepared to leave the party. Obviously, this means that he’s not going to apologise either to Karpal. He even told some members of the media that he doesn’t understand the word – apologise – obviously meaning the issue does not arise at all “since he has done no wrong”.

However, Ramasamy has been a fairly good DAP man notwithstanding his latest drama. Perhaps, he did forget himself and allowed the high office to go to his head. It remains to be seen if Rama is indeed that willing to forsake DAP. Only he can show how sincere he really is.

Voters and DAP colleagues are not dumb - they can differentiate between posturing and the real turncoat-type of qualities as exhibited by another colleague Hee Yit Foong of Jelapang, Perak.

Enemies await at the gate

It’s no secret that HRPM has expressed an interest in holding talks with Pakatan Rakyat on exploring ways of working together. Having failed to make headway with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, whose PKR party insists that Uthaya abandons his siege-mentality politics for a multi-racial platform, HRP is trying to stir up divisions by targeting DAP and PAS.

Strange that Uthaya can imagine he would have better chances with DAP and PAS. Perhaps, he feels he can count on his friends within DAP - such as M Manoharan, the Kota Alam Shah assemblyman and a fellow ISA detainee in the wake of the famous Hindraf uprising of 2007 - to pull him in. But even so, Uthaya wiould get nowhere with DAP if he sticks with his Indians-only mantra. Same for his bid at PAS, which is already staunchly Muslim with limited space for supporters of other religions.

But whatever the outcome of the Ramasamy-Karpal spat, and especially without the political opportunism of the likes of Uthaya and brother Waytha, Pakatan is poised for victory at the states it now governs.

Pakatan is very likely to add at least 2 states to its victories and it must be careful not allow 11th hour distractions especially from insincere parties now trying to ride on its bandwagon of popularity. For example, Pakatan can be sure that the likes of Uthaya and Waytha will pull a quickie like Zul Noordin and Zahrain Hashim if they win seats on the Pakatan ticket.

Imagine the headaches and shouting matches with and from such a group. Be wise, go for peace - let BN have HRP! It is not a tonic but a weakening agent.

As for Ramasamy, he should know what to do and so should Karpal.

Malaysia Chronicle