The rise of god emperor Najib

In the fourth entry of Frank Herbert's saga, ‘God Emperor of Dune’, Leto Atreides II becomes the titular god emperor of the known universe.

In the novel, the immortal Leto rules with an iron fist and imposes thousands of years of despotic 'peace' on humanity.

However, his goal was not simply to subjugate humanity, but rather to teach them "a lesson they will remember in their bones".

By oppressing mankind, Leto actually sought to inspire them to rebel against tyrants, including himself, and against centralised governments so that humanity could survive even worse adversaries to come.

Back in the real world, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is on course to obtain sweeping powers under the National Security Council Bill 2015.

This includes the power to declare any place a "security zone", in which there can be arbitrary arrests and seizure of property.

All that's needed is 'justifiable cause'

All the prime minister needs is a "justifiable cause" and the agreement of five council members.

While, as a Malay Muslim he is not likely to take on such a heretical title as ‘god emperor’, the swift passing of the NSC Bill in Parliament has nonetheless been granted him the powers to be one.

It is also unlikely that Najib wants Malaysians to learn to become independent if he chooses to misuse his powers.

Whether or not the powers will be abused, or actually used to deal with legitimate security threats, remains to be seen.

But if not abused, hopefully it will finally teach us Malaysians a lesson we will remember in our bones.

We will, hopefully, remember never again to vote in a government that can wield absolute power.

This is not a call for revolution.

Rather, it is just a reminder that when the next democratic option to make a change arises, carpe diem - enjoy the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future.

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ZIKRI KAMARULZAMAN is a member of the Malaysiakini team.