DAILY DISPATCHES: The Rottweiler sinks his fangs into sacred cows

2009/07/16

Azmi Anshar

NAZRI Aziz has drummed a take-no-prisoners reputation in buttressing his role as the Cabinet’s enforcer and the lone attack/guard dog. It’s a testament to his hardline disposition that he takes on major Government critics with the persona of a Rottweiler, snarling and lunging menacingly at attackers and intruders.

In Nazri’s books, sacred cows who take pot-shots at the government are fair game, even for the likes of ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, ex-Inspector-general of Police Tun Hanif Omar and ex-Attorney-General Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman. That gnashing and gnawing sound you hear is him sinking his fangs voraciously on the three statesmen’s derriere for their temerity in disparaging the Government over a slew of current issues.

“…the moment they left, they became the biggest critics. We know that dignitaries who have left the government service, they tend to forget. Once they are no longer in the government, they tend to criticise us, the institution and administration that served them. Now, these are all crooks,” the defacto Law Minister lashed out on Monday.

Now that’s a mouthful but it is consistent, coming from Nazri. It’s also a new low, or high, depending on how much you think he is wrong, or right. Let’s hazard a guess that the three aggrieved gentlemen would in all probability define Nazri’s outburst as slanderous and vilifying.

There’s no problem if Nazri defends the Government against criticisms from these three statesmen and rattles up a barrage of counter-attacks but to denounce Dr Mahathir, Hanif and Abu Talib collectively as “crooks”? “Crooks” in what sense? Nazri never bothered to elaborate but it could be inferred that the three statesmen were in swirling in criminal activity.

That was Monday. Today, Nazri stepped up his characterisation of the three: not only did he reaffirm that “crooks” was the word he maintained but clarified its definition: “…Not that they stole money. They are not helping the government at all. We are surprise when they were in the government, they protected the government. Now they criticise us after leaving the post. Were they pretending to do a good job when they were at the post, to jaga periuk nasi (look after their livelihood)?”

Nazri’s skirmishes with Dr Mahathir is legendary, starting from the 1995 when, he, as acting Umno Youth chief, led the Umno Youth charge that rejected Rahim Tamby Chik's leadership and then claimed he was insulted when he felt the Umno leadership did not respect the movement's wishes. Nazri spat out some pretty unbecoming words against the Umno leadership, especially against Dr Mahathir, but later retracted it and publicly apologised.

In the latest altercation, Nazri vented and ranted against the ex-PM after Dr Mahathir complained that Nazri was among the few Umno leaders whom should not be retained in the Cabinet. Nazri’s response to Dr Mahathir was categorically snarky: Dr M is not only childish and lame; he is also a selfish and senile old man. Ouch!

So far, Dr Mahathir, always quick on the draw to hit back at his critics, has not posted a spicy rebuttal inside his blog to Nazri’s bald-faced “crooks” accusation though it is understood that the ex-PM is abroad. On the other hand, Dr Mahathir may opt for a public gallery to take a dig back sometime in the near future at one of his many talks.

As for Suhakam chairman Abu Talib, all he did to merit a Rottweiler mauling was to suggest that the people of Perak be given the opportunity to exercise their right to choose again the government of their choice, which he merely saw as a basic human right. And Nazri went ballistic over this blandest of remarks?

Nazri made no specific mention of why he had a beef against Hanif, the ex-IGP but this may be a possibility: in his Point of View column published in The Star, Hanif wrote that the de facto Law Minister had said that, “The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has to act on the advice of the prime minister on extending the tenure of the chief justice who is due to retire at the end of the month…”

Nothing to that line except the rather sarcastic comment: “The Minister is himself a lawyer. Thus a golfing friend thought that Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz must be right. Indeed, most people have heard that it is the convention if not the law that a constitutional monarch must act on the prime minister’s advice,” Hanif wrote. “However, the following day Nazri’s interpretation of the parameters of the Yang diPertuan Agong’s power vis-à-vis the chief justice’s extension of tenure was pooh-poohed by the well-known legal practitioner, Karpal Singh.”

Then there was that allegation Hanif made last year: 40 per cent of senior police officers could be arrested strictly on the basis of their lifestyles. Nazri, in responding to that allegation in Parliament, demanded that Hanif submit details of his allegations to the Anti-Corruption Agency. “Hanif is being irresponsible if he did not do so,” Nazri blasted in his reply to Lim Kit Siang, the DAP MP for Ipoh Timor.

Naturally, Hanif wasn’t flattered at the latest outburst, and he immediately dispatched this strong rebuttal: “…I am shocked by Nazri’s remark that I am a crook. A crook is a dishonest man which I am not. It is a serious charge which defames and demeans me in public. Even his charge that I was a supporter of government policies and institutions when I was in public service, but became a critic the moment I left government service is not true. Nazri must prove his charges or withdraw them.”

Abu Talib Othman was cooler in his reaction. “I won’t be put off by Nazri Aziz’s criticism for making a stand on the Perak crisis and I will continue speaking out if the need arises.” Cool indeed, especially since Abu Talib pointed out that his criticisms was not only sanctioned by Suhakam but also required under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act.

Despite his harsh volley of words, Nazri remains unrepentant, especially on the slanderous nature of his words. ““If they want to summon me, summon la. Saya peduli apa (What do I care). They are not important to me. To me, they are misfits,” he let it go during a rambling tirade today at a Press conference to announce the new taxi fares.

To be fair, what the Minister in Prime Minister's Department is stating had been consistently tough, he being the value of what is desired in the Cabinet. In a twisted way, Nazri’s defiant defence of the Government is the hallmark of loyalty, admirable in one sense but sycophantic in another. In these times of freewheeling demonisation of the Government, Nazri’s defence is also germane to the cohesiveness of the current administration’s ability to carry out their programmes.

Dr Mahathir would not disagree: there was a mob in his Cabinet and administration that snarled and gnawed the same way that Nazri did (remember Megat Junid Megat Ayub?). Dr Mahathir also remained consistent in his stance: he will not stop criticising the Government just because Najib had taken over from what was best described as the disastrous administration of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

But that doesn’t mean that Dr Mahathir should dominate all the fun of whacking verbal salvos. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah too is getting into the act in his blog, lobbing one verbal grenade after another into Najib’s comfort zone (No word yet if Nazri would deflect Razaleigh with a weighty rebuke). Don’t even mention the rancid rockets that the Pakatan Rakyat lot launch from their side.

Nazri’s role is to neutralise the neutron bombs heading towards Putrajaya from all sides. It’s a tough job but he’s proven that he’s THE man to carry out the dirty job since no one else seems capable. Nazri’s philosophy in constructing his range of counter-attack options is this: condemn the PM and the Government all you like but don’t expect a free ride and niceties because Nazri will charge with machine pistol blazing in one hand and a broadsword swishing on the other.

It also doesn’t matter if in Nazri’s high-octane rampage, the collateral damage includes slaughtering sacred cows.

mishar@nst.com.my

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