Parliament


HOME	NEWS	VIDEOS	GALLERY	NSTP PAPERS

Home / Dewan Dispatches / Article

DEWAN DISPATCHES: Of Kit’s wailing lament for politicians who can’t do no wrong & 30 years of possible coup d’état

by: Azmi Anshar
DEWAN RAKYAT Nov 17, 2008

Bless Lim Kit Siang. If not for him all these years, the Malaysian political expanse would be a barren rock. If not for Kit, the political debate in the last four decades would have been skewed towards a less spicy and blander outcome. It doesn’t matter if he raises issues provoking our minds to decide an alternate reality or underscore what we already know. Kit has made the difference. The Malaysian political journey had been a vista of shocking scandals, October surprises and humble enlightenment.

Kit’s brusque brushes with the law during his years as Opposition leader landed him more detention time than necessary but we won’t dwell too much on the martyred aspect of his seminal political vocation. Often, the issues Kit galvanised were as impactful as a time-bomb: he detonated one back in 1981 with a certain youthful Anwar Ibrahim in their battle to hinder amendments to the Societies Act pushed by that spiciest of Cabinet Ministers, Tan Sri Ghazalie Shafie, who made a famous appearance on TV bringing a ladle to defend the changes. It was another era.

Kit was perhaps instrumental in the BMF scandal expose that rocked the financial and political worlds while his lawsuit against UEM in 1987 may have precipitated the bigger looming judicial crisis that led to the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President.

These are but two critical examples of Kit’s high-profile political life as agitator, provocateur and national conscience, his portion in Malaysian history assured. It would be a misjudgement of academia if they can’t conceive a political science course to discuss Kit’s excellent adventures. But as prolifically spot on as Kit was, he has had his embarrassing gaffes, none more rollicking than the apology he had to extend in the Pakatan Rakyat Perak Menteri Besar issue weeks after the major Opposition victories stemming from the March 8 general election.

Kit had issued instructions to all DAP state assemblymen to boycott the swearing-in ceremony for the Perak Menteri Besar, claiming that there was no party mandate for a chief minister to come from a Pas candidate, more so when the DAP’s bigger portion of victories in the state dictate that they should put forward a legitimate MB candidate. Political reality set in soon and whether it was a misunderstanding or Kit was forced to backpedal, the Perak MB’s swearing–in, initially cancelled, later took place after Kit made his apology and retracted his instruction. But the man, you have to admit, is the doyen of perseverance, never ever giving up the good fight wherever he can find one.

Then comes today’s contention of two issues – one very partisan in nature and one very quaint – espoused to reporters outside the House that begs a ribbing. First, Kit finds it obnoxious that Ronnie Liu, a DAP Selangor Exco member, has to face a criminal charge of abetting the obstruction of a Subang Jaya Municipal Council enforcement officer in closing down a hotel last year. Since that’s no way to treat a sitting Exco member, Kit duly demanded that the Attorney-General withdraw the charge.

Kit, who is used to cloying hyperboles, asserted that the charge had the odour of political motive. The AG, he fussed, must explain whether there has been such a charge before. “If no, he must explain why he is so creative in coming out with the new charge. If it's not been for political reason, what else? I call on the AG to reconsider the whole matter and stop having political trial by withdrawing the charge against Liu.” That’s a mouthful, even for Kit, who cited Liu’s case as the third court case laced with political conspiracy, the first being Anwar’s second time of being charged with sodomy, and the second, blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin being charged with committing criminal defamation.

It’s natural to cry foul if a member of your family, a close associate or a friend is hauled up by the authorities, like the police, for an alleged transgression. Even if Liu questioned the way he was arrested and charged, the fact of the matter is nobody, a politician especially, can ever be happy if he or she is arrested, detained or charged by the police. Apparently, politicians of Liu’s ilk and those backed, endorsed or used by Kit – in the lexicon of political expediency – can simply do no wrong.

Its fine if Kit prefers to scream conspiracies if he thinks political malfeasance is the source of Anwar’s, RPK’s and Liu’s date with the courts but he oversteps the line when he demands that all charges be withdrawn for the sake of augmenting his perceived plots of cabal intrigue. These three characters may be angels from heaven but are they beyond reproach? Is Kit implying that the three are above the law? That to charge them is to smear the judicial system, even if the authorities have the ability to establish a prima facie case against them? These three characters are not in line for sainthood. Or are they?

The AG, police and other levels of authority are not here to endear themselves to the public as much as they need to spruce up damaged reputations. They are, for better or for worse, here to consummate tough decisions of enforcement and endure the litany of aggrievements that follow, from critics and from families of the accused. But tough decisions they make all the time – the criminal system is littered with cases of murder, graft, violence and general mayhem and all sorts of characters get indicted, convicted, caned and put to death. They even include Government (Barisan Nasional) leaders and officials.

But the moment law enforcement extends to the Opposition, a different set of rules seem to apply. Law enforcement officers have to cautiously tiptoe across a minefield just to get the arrest right. But that’s fine too. As long as they get the perpetrator, that’s all that matters, just as long as it is not a member of the Opposition, Kit’s reasoning and perspective being played out here.

Then Kit insinuated the absurd idea that Malaysia is fertile for a coup d’état. In fact, he’s insinuating that a coup d’état might have been hatching for the past 30 years after he took exception that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister cannot be out of the country at the same time.

He questioned a so-called 30-year ruling that had been breached when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for a four-day official visit on Sunday and Datuk Seri Najib Razak is leaving for the 16th Apec Economic Leaders Meeting in Lima, Peru.

It’s such a quaint inquiry that it’s farcical; a comedic stretch that stems from Tun Hussein Onn’s time as the nation’s chief executive. Just how farcical? Read Kit’s artful suggestion for the absurd:
"Who will be the acting Prime Minister when both are out of the country? It can't be Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is the front-runner for the election for the Umno deputy president as he, together with the Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar will be leaving together with Najib tomorrow for Peru. Can it be the most senior minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok or the newly elected MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat?" It’s vintage Kit in his hyperbole finest.

It’s unfathomable why Kit would raised this issue now when Prime Ministers and their deputies have previously gone abroad simultaneously, sometimes unannounced and unnoticed but several times calculated, but never having to return home to face a bizarre coup d’état executed by some crazed power-hungry pretender.

Despite what Kit and his comrades may asseverate, this is still a decent country where leaders fight for political posts through general or party elections, or negotiate them through peaceful but legitimate power transitions. Heated, intense and rowdy these elections may be but a banana republic where you habitually depose the PM or DPM when they are busy representing the nation in crucial visits or international conferences we definitely are not.

Besides, has Kit suddenly overlooked the SMS, e-mail, cellphone, webcasting, teleconferencing, smart phones, Internet, the Government jet plane ready to fly in a moment’s notice and an army of aides and advisers armed with the day’s intelligence? For someone savvy with web blogging and the uncensored nature of the Internet, his reasoning to question the two leaders’ real time absence smacks of circular-dialed phone, typewriter, cable, telegram and telegraph mentality.

We all have our moments lapsed in nostalgia for the good old days. Or perhaps Kit, in his wailing lament for what is wrong with this country, was talking metaphorically of his own experience in his own party or that of his strange bedfellows in the Pakatan Rakyat. Now that’s some bunch of characters.