WHAT NOW, OR WAS THAT JUST A FLASH IN THE PAN?

Umar Mukhtar

Now that the political divide in Kuala Lumpur is slightly clearer, the play is for someone to be the Malaysian version of Juan Ponce Enrile, the Philippines’ former minister of defence who crossed the street in Manila and joined the ‘people power’ street demonstrations. From then on, it was a speedy slippery slope for President Marcos.

Or in Jakarta and Thailand, where the armed forces were on steroids, the particular head of government/state was told unceremoniously by the generals that he could no longer count on the undivided support of the military. Except In Singapore, where anti-government forces would just be locked up as pests, period. Silence of the lambs or dogs in the manger.

They were all democracies, including Singapore. And these were all bloodless changes of ruling governments. How you can define what happened in Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta as democratic takes a long stretch of the imagination. They were just kicked out. No ballots.

Nobody asked whether they were majority popular uprisings and the assumptions were always that what you saw on television and what you read in the media were true reflections of events on the ground.

In KL, there will be no Juan Ponce Enrile because blood is thicker than water. But a big fish may still jump out of the water and rock the establishment like what may eventually come out of last Friday’s episode.

Our saloon generals are busy with the windmills of their minds and only our police are actively used to manifest government power, but as gophers more than anything else. You know, go for this, go for that, boy.

We tried our version of ‘people power’ but it was only partially successful, maybe because we were not totally focused and allowed individual prejudices get in the way. Or that other people interpreted it that way and somehow it cancelled out.

The hard truth was that the leaders of the first march were not hyper-sensitive to the exigencies of the situation but more besotted by the romance of going against Goliath. The results did not come to much. But it was enough to show that many people were not happy about many things.

There was an opposing ‘people power’ march too, and as much as we like to discredit their legitimacy, they were real. When there are two opposing sides like in Thailand only the intervention of a third party such as the military can settle things. So nobody wanted to push the envelope because that would be too messy.

See, Malaysians do not have a strong tradition of civil direct action. Nothing to be ashamed of but still we may have to control the frequent hot air, lest we look like Indian drunkards in a bar with less than a glass of beer consumed.

There’s also a lacuna in our laws where we had effectively expected the PM to prosecute himself. Lucky for us, he is not the head of state, only the head of government. Most countries that have presidents who are also heads of states have special mechanisms for their impeachment and the appointment of special prosecutors.

Maybe the reason we don’t have that is because we have a separate entity for head of state called the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers. A constitutional monarchy does not mean that the King has absolutely no power. Only no absolute power. He remains the fountain of justice of last resort and protector of the people.

I will not venture into the unprecedented possibilities. But when the normal parliamentary vote of no confidence and criminal prosecution are thwarted by the person in power by using the carrot and the stick, certain things can come into play. But keep it constitutional, please.

Me? I’ll wait for PRU14 that’s two years away. Too long to wait? I have waited for decades, two years is nothing. You will be surprised at how short a time that is to change mindsets, to articulate tactics and to convince others. Not just by the seat of prison pants like the last time. I hate anything extra-constitutional because human paramodial instincts can be counter-productive.

In Jakarta, they did fret about who was to replace Suharto but they eventually did find a people’s choice after going through a lengthy process. Someone will rise to the occasion here in KL too, so that’s not a real reason to be avoiding change.

Admittedly, KL is a less homogeneous society than those cities, so an element of chauvinistic rivalry could be exploited. But if we had hoped for the rise of an enlightened leadership to teach us to ignore the chauvinism that has been the bane of this nation, maybe it’s now the other way round. It’s the people, now fed up with those boogie men, who demand that chauvinism be off limits to political aspirants.

Then only we can see the trees for the forest, and crooks are crooks, pure and simple. The only thing is, consistency is paramount. Let’s just not pass judgement on a certain lavish wedding as a sure sign of corruption, while we ignore the reality of billionaire sons of an ex-PM, with no record of entrepreneurial brilliance, flaunting their wealth.

One way could be to let bygones be bygones. That’s a lump in the throat but we have to move on for the sake of our young. Just don’t let the father of corruption and the destroyer of our public institutions be the flag carrier and the reformer of his own fook-ups. That’s adding insult to injury; he’s lucky he’s not in the dungeons already. Maybe he should also return most of the ‘wang derma’ he had received.

The trouble is there’s no apparent Juan Ponce Enrile that can catch our imagination. Look harder with our hearts and we will find. But before that much need to be done. Like reforming our own selves to be true Malaysians and not beings of others’ expectations. God bless.