Pakatan's hubris, Rakyat's loss

COMMENTARY

NOV 5 - As you have seen, it was a sheer display of arrogance, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday described his prime ministerial rival Datuk Seri Najib Razak's refusal to allow him to speak when winding up the Budget debate.

That actually holds true for the Parliamentary opposition leader and his cohorts for in a fit of hubris and pique, they abandoned their seats and their role to represent the people in questioning the Barisan Nasional's proposals to face the global economic slowdown.

Their excuse? They argued that Najib's set of statistics and estimates were different from those in Abdullah's budget speech and thus, it required time for debate before being passed for a second reading. Instead, Najib said no to being interrupted and they left the House.

The result? The Bill was passed nonetheless, without their participation.

Anwar eloquently argued his case for walking out, saying "We are asked to approve a new, revised budget - including a new deficit, a new growth scenario, new inflation figures, and government income and expenditures - in a matter of minutes to be approved.

"It is treating the Parliament process and budget debate as a mockery," said the Permatang Pauh MP, who had promised to topple the Barisan Nasional government by last September 16.

In retrospect, so was his walking out of the House.

He and the rest of the Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers, who had denied the Barisan Nasional coalition its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority, could have put Najib to the test on all his economic presumptions, proposals, the aborted Eurocopter deal, the controversial EPF RM5 billion loan to state fund manager Valuecap Sdn Bhd and other pressing issues.

Instead, they walked out and left a laundry list of questions unasked and unanswered. And like many affected by the economic turmoil, we are all the poorer from it.

Veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang too argued his point against Najib, saying Pakatan Rakyat leaders had called for the Finance Minister before Parliament ended on October 13 to present a revised budget for debate and to be put to vote.

"He refused. He allowed the members of parliament from both sides of the House to debate a budget which he clearly was going to be abandon and he abandoned the original budget," Lim said.

The irony, is of course, Lim had abandoned the rakyat the moment he walked out of the House yesterday.

The DAP strongman, who has debated with almost every Prime Minister since being elected to parliament in 1969, did none of that yesterday.

Walking out was a better option that talking it out.

Najib called them "irresponsible" for the walkout.

"I have already promised them the space to ask questions after I finish delivering my winding-up speech but since they have decided to leave," he said, reiterating it was not a new budget except for additional amounts to stimulate the economy.

All said and done, Najib's winding-up speech gave some answers but left a few lingering questions. If only Pakatan Rakyat had also lingered to ask.

For they are not heroes for walking out, they are zeroes for not staying on.