Nazri is not a worthy defender

It is inconceivable that the PM and government are unable to defend themselves if the attacks by Mahathir and others are without basis.

COMMENT

By TK Chua

Maybe only nincompoops will be impressed by a new clown in the same circus doing the same tricks. I am referring to Scott Ng’s piece praising Nazri Aziz (Minister of Tourism and Culture) for providing new impetus to defend Prime Minister Najib Razak and the government.

If all previous ministers and deputy ministers have done a lousy job at defending Najib, that was to be expected. I believe Nazri’s performance will be no different, regardless of his wit and brashness. The reality is, there is no defence for lies, machination, and manipulation. At most, they provide only cover-ups and diversions.

It is inconceivable that the PM and the government are not able to defend and protect themselves comfortably if the attacks staged by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his friends, and the Opposition are without basis and credibility. I believe the government has enough of an arsenal at its disposal to ward off unwarranted or unjustified attacks.

However, if we find some of the defences put up by our ministers and deputies ministers ridiculous or even stupid thus far, that is because they lack truth. There are limits to public relations, spinning and diversions. Beyond that, truth and reality must prevail.

What did Nazri do which impressed so much? Surely it is not by labelling Mahathir an “unprincipled hypocrite” and by challenging him to stand in Pekan or Padang Rengas in the next election.

I am sure unprincipled hypocrites would include those who supported Mahathir to the hilt when he was in power. I must say at least Mahathir now sees the dangers and realises the follies of indulging in endless baloney.

And what is so great about winning in Pekan or Padang Rengas as Nazri challenged? The reality is even if he has won the support of all of rural Malaysia, it will still not constitute the majority, as the results of the 13th general election have indicated.

Are we supposed to be impressed too about Nazri asking Tony Pua to resign from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) before having a debate with Arul Kanda Kandasamy, the CEO of 1MDB? What is the logic and significance of that call when the spat between Pua and Arul is precisely due to the former’s role as a member of PAC? By the way, why even try to subvert the roles of PAC and its members when the whole world knows PAC’s investigation is essentially toothless?

Finally, joking that the Bersih 4 rally helped saved millions of ringgit in tourism advertising is to me a pathetic form of defiance that shows the minister’s inability to accept the reality that the rally was a huge success and revealed the spontaneous anger of the people.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.