Should the Agong grant Sirul a Royal pardon? 62 per cent say ...

The Poll: Should Sirul get a Royal pardon for killing Altantuya?

NOOOO! I see internet polls as cheap entertainment, something you take with a pinch of salt. Not that they don't provide a representation of a general trend or sentiment, if that's what we are looking for. As probably is the case with the above poll by The Unspinners, the poltical blog that generates probably the highest traffic in Malaysia.

The poll, which ran for a few days this week, asks: Should Sirul be let off for Altantuya's murder? [For context, do read Mahahtir says it again, unfair to hang Sirul].

Because Unspinners has a huge following, the survey drew 883 "respondents". That's a big number by any standard. The Merdeka Survey usually limits its respondents to 1000. Most blogs get fewer than a few dozen respondents. MARAH, a closed Facebook group of Malaysians against crime, which conducted the original survey after Mahathir called on Najib to pardon Sirul, attracted less than 100 respondents [and it has over 4000 members].

In the poll by MARAH, only 13 per cent of the respondents felt Sirul should get a Royal pardon, with  2 per cent reasoning that "so that maybe one day (Sirul) might spill the beans on who ordered him to kill". 51 per cent of MARAH respondents said NO to Royal pardon for Sirul. [Poll shows majority not in favour of royal pardon for Sirul].

Those who said NO in the Unspinners' poll made up 62 per cent of total respondents. 

I am not the least surprised by the outcome of these surveys. Of all the issues raised by Tun Dr Mahathir against PM Najib Razak, the pardon-fro-Sirul element in Alantuya's murder is the weakest. Sirul was a policeman convicted of cold-blooded murder. He had his day in court but decided not to speak the truth and under oath when he had the chance to. 

Haivng said that, Sirul still has a chance for redemption: before he goes to the gallows and pay for his crime like all killers must, he should tell us and the whole world WHO actually ordered him to kill Altantuya.

Whether or not people would believe SIrul is another issue altogether, perhaps one for yet another entertaining online poll! -rocky's bru