The Tyranny Of BN

In 1998, Dr.Mahathir’s tyrannous regime infamously tried Anwar Ibrahim

on trumped-up sodomy charges. In the great tradition of authoritarian

rulers everywhere, Mahathir used a corrupt police force and biased

judiciary to put Anwar away. So outrageous was the conduct of

Augustine Paul,the presiding judge in Anwar’s trial, that it would be

not be extreme to compare him to the notorious Nazi kangaroo court

judge, Roland Freisler. Anwar rallied the people and put up a

tremendous fight, but to no avail. Brute force had prevailed over the

voices of countless people who took to the streets and to cyberspace

resolved to end the unjust rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN)

government. Free Anwar became the rallying call of liberal and

progressive Malaysia, and Anwar’s fate became tied up with the hopes

of a nation. And so the nation was thrilled when the Anwar-led

opposition coalition won 5 states and 82 parliamentary seats in the

last general election.

Since then the BN government has tried every possible underhand ploy

at its disposal in order to undermine the opposition coalition. This

included fabricating another sodomy case against Anwar who is rightly

regarded by the government as its chiefest foe. His biggest sin in the

eyes of the government is his unprecedented challenge to their divide

and rule racial policies. This threatens the very existence of the BN,

and consequently the vested interests of its leaders and their chief

supporters.

Increasingly desperate, they have now conjured up Ummi Hafilda Ali, a

faded and vaguely sinister figure from the first sodomy trial. At her

press conference on 13th January, she exuded a great deal of malice,

but made very little sense. She made the astonishing claim that the

opposition gains in March 2008 was solely due to her absence from the

electoral battlefield. She threatened to sue Anwar and others for

hundreds of millions, although there appears to be no legal cause of

action known to our jurisprudence to support her ridiculous claim.

Trotting out this foolish woman just as the general election looms

closer is surely a new low even for the BN government.

It is significant that Ummi Hafilda has been dusted off the shelf just

as Najib desperately seeks ways to avoid debating Anwar Ibrahim on the

economy. Instead of engaging in an open and free discussion of

national issues with the leader of the opposition, the BN chooses to

respond by digging up the mouldering bones of an old and discredited

slander. Oppressive and dishonest, the BN advances its political

agenda by engaging in sordid conspiracies against its political

opponents. Unable and unwilling to engage in free political discourse,

the BN constantly seeks to use State powers to criminalize and destroy

its opponents. This has ever been the way with tyrants. But like so

many other tyrannies, this one too shall come to an end, and our

nation will shake off the restraints imposed by BN and stride forward

to meet its great destiny.

N.SURENDRAN

VICE PRESIDENT

PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT