An answer to Salleh Said Keruak’s question

“If they will play fair I will play fair, but if they won't then I reserve all my rights to do anything I find myself able to do.”

― William Howard Taft

Actually, this is not “an” answer. Hopefully, this is “the” answer.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak asked, “How does Pakatan (Harapan) explain and justify this, other than saying the only important thing is to oust the prime minister and it does not matter how it is done?"

The most important point I want to make is this - you and anyone from BN do not get to ask this question.

1. You do not get to ask this question because the system is rigged in your favour.

2. You do not get to ask this question because our public institutions are compromised.

3. You do not get to ask this question because our state security apparatus is beholden to a political party.

4. You do not get to ask this question because your propagandists are the mainstream press.

5. You do not get to ask this question because of your gerrymandering of the electoral boundaries.

6. You do not get to ask this question because the opposition has to fight with one hand tied behind its back when it comes to race and religion.

7. You do not get to ask this question because as veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (photo) acknowledged – (a) “(Bagaimanapun) jangan memandang rendah kepada kerajaan kerana mereka ada kuasa, ada televisyen, radio, duit dan media. Mereka juga ada alat-alat risikan dan sebagainya. Media dia lebih tahu pada kita. Dia tahu kita belum tahu lagi. Sama ada dengan kekuasaan itu, parti yang berkuasa akan kalah saya tidak tahu.”

And (b) “Dalam isu wang, pilihan raya perlukan (wang). Suka atau tidak suka, itu tidak menjadi masalah curah duit banyak macam mana. Semua orang nak menang pilihan raya. Tidak ada nak bertanding hendak kalah.”

This last part is even more insidious because you use our money to rub our faces in your “ketuanan” politics. You use our money to fund your rigged game. You use our money to destroy the chance of legitimately having regime change.

For all these reasons, you do not get to ask this question. When you have a flunky making police reports that the former prime minister wants to overthrow the government, any rational person would understand this is why the current government has to go. Many people would like to overthrow the government and I will wager that if we take away those reasons as to why you cannot ask this question, the Umno regime would have ended a couple of years ago.

Always remember that when it comes to justice and fair play in this country, one is only corrupt when they leave Umno. Most Malaysians understand this. Sometimes, I think the best definition of what it means to be “Malaysian” is understanding that the game is rigged but going along with it. 

Here is what I mean - "If the ordinary rakyat have no faith in our democracy or public institutions, it is because of the manner in which the political elite use both to hunt down and destroy political dissent by any means necessary. The cynical use of the state security apparatus to ‘investigate’ political adversaries for alleged crimes carried out decades ago, while the country is mired in corruption, religious provocations and crimes that destroy the fabric of our society points to the reality that the current administration has no interests beyond sustaining its hegemony."

Democracy is about legitimately carrying out regime change or to put it in words you understand, overthrowing the government. Democracy is also about sometimes making bad choices. Democracy is also, more importantly, about correcting those bad choices. Now I get it. Democracy is also a dirty game. Nobody plays fair.

However, democracy also has safeguards to ensure that the system allows for changes – even if superficial – to ensure that governments do not slide into fascism or religious theocracies. Malaysia does not have this or it had it but Malaysians gave people like you and definitely people like the newly designated PM of the opposition, continuing chances to destroy it.

Those with moral locus standi

Do you know who gets to ask this question? People who support the opposition or at least have some sort of value system that ultimately is a detriment to the system that you benefit from and yes, that the former prime minister, now PM designate of the opposition, has created.

Who are these people? There are many of them but for the sake of clarity (and because they have been highlighted in the media I write for) the following should suffice -

1. Kua Kia Soong, Suaram adviser.

2. Sangeet Kaur Deo (photo), daughter of late DAP leader Karpal Singh (by the way, shout out to Malaysiakini columnist Fa Abdul for her piece in support of Sangeet).

3. Blogger Ktemoc, whose letter neatly defines DAP's dilemma or it should if you actually are thinking about the party's values instead of party personalities.

4. Opposition supporters who are shouted down on social media because they dare question the Harapan groupthink.

5. Folks who voice their concerns in the comment sections of various Malaysiakini articles and who demonstrate that they are exceptions to the “so-called cybertroopers who are shameless cowards who can’t really read or write. They do not even dare to use their real names when they post such nonsense. "For sure they will be despatched to the sewage heap of history” that attack people like Kua.

These people get to ask this question. They have the moral locus standi (is this even a real thing or did I just make it up?) to ask this extremely important question. These people have to contend with people like me who advocate that the opposition commits to this crappy game because maybe a two-party system is a start to correcting the systemic dysfunction.

Therefore, when the system is rigged, the opposition has to resort any means necessary. Does this answer your question? I certainly hope not. When I say by “any means necessary”, this is not a justification or an explanation as to why the former prime minister was christened PM designate but a reminder of that great JFK quote, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.- Mkini