COMMENT With the coming general election in just 24 months’ time, Malaysians can expect more such claims out of nowhere against both Pakatan Harapan and non-governmental organisations that are not aligned to the ruling party.
Previously, the same strategy was also used against Sarawak Report when a freelance journalist claimed that he had worked with its owner, Clare Rewcastle-Brown.
Immediately, Rewcastle-Brown denied it. She went to a great extent to prove that the accuser had never worked for her. If I recall correctly, the accuser was seen to be holding up a statutory declaration.
One of them even travelled to London to lodge a police report against Brown, but the police refused to entertain the complaint based on the nature of the accusation.
It was later discovered that the journalist and his counterpart in peninsular Malaysia were, in fact, untruthful in what they had to present, even to the point of lying about Rewcastle-Brown.
More of such things to come
Malaysians can anticipate more of such thing to come, especially as we are approaching the general election. I suspect a snap election will be called much earlier.
Just as the opposition leaders will be kept busy in the courts defending themselves against all kinds of charges, we will see more of such stories and accusations coming out from the likes of Azharuddin Othman.
This will be done more frequently that I suspect every Malaysian will soon echo my words, “Enough is enough.” In the last general election, I was so peeved with Barisan Nasional, especially Umno, that I decided to campaign for the PAS candidate in my constituency, a traditional Umno stronghold.
These are signs of desperation. When a ruling party knows that it is losing the grassroots support, it will no longer care for its reputation. Instead, it will go all out to play dirty and to create confusion, even chaos, just to stay in power.
Remember the video clip that was supposed to be shot in secrecy of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim? What happened to the video? What was the outcome of the investigation?
In fact, Johari Abdul has already dispelled the claims made by Anwar’s opponents in politics through a video that explains it all which has in fact, received over 390,000 views. At a press conference, Johari also spent a lot of time to defend Anwar.
And, if you think that the three-cornered fight in six state constituencies in Sarawak recently is frustrating, welcome to the world of dirty politics. There will be more to come, with the hope that people also lose hope in Pakatan Harapan.
Best solution
We all know that a lot of these political games are played to cast doubts and aspersions on the Pakatan Harapan leaders. Personally, I am fed up with what I see or read sometimes.
These accusations have no basis, but are played up just to play on voters’ sentiments. I have seen enough, and I am still seeing more of this coming our way.
My best suggestion is for all of us to make strong comments and condemn such idiotic politics - be it in the coffee shops, online or on our Facebooks. Once the perpetrators of such dirty politics see that it is not worth their while, they will withdraw their strategies.
Remember 1Malaysia? It was the slogan that appeared almost at every nook and corner during the last general election. The reason, as I understand it, is that 1M is no longer used as much today is because Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been briefed that the slogan is criticised by many people including BN leaders themselves.
Instead, more people are talking about 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal these days than 1Malaysia. I get more sceptical each time I read a statement by one of Najib’s defenders in the likes of Azalina Othman Said, Salleh Said Keruak and Rahman Dahlan.
The next best solution is to stay resolved that whatever it is, even if Anwar is not an angel, and some Pakatan Rakyat prove to be crooks, I will still vote for Pakatan Harapan. Even if they put a cat there to contest against Umno, I would vote for the cat.
I guess that’s the only way to tell the ruling coalition that they cannot meddle with the sentiments of the voters, and try to play on our ignorance in order to create distrust between opposition leaders and their supporters. This is nothing new!
STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.- Mkini
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