Now we have pride in defections

 

Defections are nothing new. In fact, it has become a fabric in our political sphere that we have come to anticipate and expect to happen.

I remember, at the height of defections in March last year, I wanted to create a website to tabulate all the defections because I was losing track of the drama.

But I realise there is no point tabulating defections because our defectors have changed in their quality. There is no shame, embarrassment nor remorse. Instead, our politics have descended to the point where, now, there is pride.

We need to trace to 2009, where the Perak state government endured one of the most infamous defections in our country’s history, to know how low we have fallen. Besides attracting a high-profile constitutional argument, the incident was notorious because it was rare for defections to happen back then.

The defections of the three Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons happened quietly behind closed doors. The defectors acted like they were still loyal to the party they were serving, while a deal was struck behind the scenes.

When it happened, there was a chorus of calling them traitors of the people’s mandate. Even though BN was the beneficiary of the defection, there was no pride in attracting the three defectors.

At that time, shame was a prevalent side effect for orchestrating defection that all BN wanted to do was to deprive Pakatan Rakyat of its majority, not to obtain gains as spoils of war.

There is a difference here. BN in 2009 understood that defections should only happen under exceptional circumstances because there is something pejorative or derogatory in such an act. There is still some sense in all politicians to the common game that you must adhere to rules, no matter how implicit.

If you go on Wikipedia and you search for defection, you will find that the basic description is negative in value. The reason defection carries a strong notion of shame and embarrassment is because we assume you owe allegiance to the party, coalition or cause you serve.

To defect means you have to abandon entirely what you have believed in, the oath you carry, the allegiance you hold, and apply a full-body experience to another, often oppositional, party or cause.

Then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak celebrates the defection of three Perak state representatives in 2009.

Even though 2009 remains a dark chapter in Malaysian history, it pales against what we have today. The defectors were deputy speaker Hee Yit Foong, senior state executive council member Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Osman Jailu. None of you would remember their faces today.

All of them defected to the independent bloc and supported the BN coalition, but all of them went into the shadows shortly after. None of them defended their seats again.

I want to imagine that their retirement from politics had to do with the shame they assumed. To a certain degree, they agreed with the voters’ claim that they have betrayed the people to serve themselves. And to use public position to extract profits for private interest is antithetical to its fundamental purpose.

A defection ceremony

Today, this is the reverse. Whenever there is a new defection, it is published widely by the party that profits because they have internalised rule-breaking and the spirit of violation. Instead of treating it as a backdoor event that nobody should know, we have made a ceremony out of it.

We make sure that the best cameras are lined up, a red carpet is properly padded, a special slot is blocked out of our calendars, attendance by the most powerful is fulfilled, broad smiles are decorated, and the lights flash in 3, 2, 1… to commemorate our pride in defection.

It got even stranger for me a few days ago. I saw even more than the final act of defection – typically signified by photographs showing the defector sharing his declaration of support for his new overlord. What I saw was a documentation of the events leading up to the final climax.

The profiting party took photos of the defectors on a car ride to the ceremonial destination. Every step of the journey was documented and published widely. He wanted to make sure that the whole world knows of what he has taken, like it was a treasure trove instead of loot.

What was once an event you want to hide behind the shadows have now become something you deliberately put a spotlight on. Once there are no more rules, even a derogatory act deserves social media likes, comments, and shares.

How low can we go? At the pace this is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day the process of coaxing someone to break the rules and defect and betray is documented with pride too. That the process of buying over support through illicit means would now be treated as merely another negotiation skill, like a class or seminar on how to encourage betrayal of the people’s mandate.

Every day it feels like we are holding to the last vestiges of what is good in Malaysia. Our politics descends quietly, and our future is thrown further into the void. The line in the sands that separates good from evil is dissolving, in 3, 2, 1…

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JAMES CHAI is a legal consultant and researcher working for Invoke, among others. He also blogs at jameschai.com.my. You may reach him at jameschai.mpuk@gmail.com. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.