Share |

Friday, 22 January 2010

Fiddling while the state burns

Maybe Anwar is troubled with the move to send him to jail on a fabricated charge of sodomy, and now for being the 'mastermind' behind the church attacks as well. In that case take sabbatical leave and go solve your personal problems first. And after your personal problems have been solved then come back into active political life.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Move to topple Selangor MB intensifies

Free Malaysia Today

Several turncoats and pro-Barisan Nasional elements in the Klang Municipal Council are setting the stage to discredit Selangor Menter Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and topple him soon.

In their attempt to pull the rug under Khalid’s feet in his Kuala Selangor PKR division, 13 of the 16 elected division committee members resigned and his division deputy, Arshad Abu Bakar, claimed yesterday that they included the youth and wanita chiefs.

Quietly, the Klang Municipal Council also moved in to demolish the north Klang taxi stand early Wednesday morning even without endorsement from the Menteri Besar, while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has turned the pressure on Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives over minor graft reports.

At a press conference yesterday, Arshad told reporters that PKR’s Kuala Selangor division had lost confidence in Khalid’s leadership but Khalid dismissed Arshad’s claim and said the division had not been disbanded.

Khalid said their resignations were expected because they were originally Umno members who had joined PKR and were now jumping back to Umno.

“The claim of loss of confidence is nothing unusual,” Khalid said. “Perhaps the statement was written by Umno for him to read.”

Arshad claimed that the three remaining elected committee members in the PKR division were Khalid, Faridah Abdul Rahman and himself.

He said the 13 committee members and division youth chief Nazarudin Darmawan and Wanita head Fauziah Sulaiman resigned from their posts between November last year and last Monday.

Arshad claimed that Khalid had failed to lead the division, which had not had its committee meeting in 14 months and did not take the initiative to strengthen the party despite many cases of non-Malay members quitting the party.

After yesterday’s state executive council meeting, Khalid, however, said the status of the division remained unchanged as there was no meeting held to disband the division.

“The election to choose a new committee will be held in March. That is why some want to quit their posts,” he said, adding that it was better for those who were not in tune with the party to resign.

Khalid said there were only 100 PKR members in Kuala Selangor in early 2007 and the number had now increased to 3,000.

He said it was better for the pro-Umno members to leave now than wait until the next general election.

It would be easier for PKR to manage the party without those who were not interested in the concept of Pakatan Rakyat, he added.

Kapar MP and PKR supreme council member S. Manikavasagam said what happened in Kuala Selangor PKR division was a part of an effort to dislodge Khalid from the mentri besar’s post.

He said the demolition of the north Klang taxi stand on Wednesday was carried out by Klang Municipal Council workers quietly in the wee hours.

Manikavasagam said the local councils in the state were currently being used as catalysts to discredit the mentri besar and the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

*************************************************

As the Malays would say: leteh nak cakap (tired of saying it).

Many grumble that I keep repeating myself. They say I keep writing about the same thing over and over again. Well, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again then how can I help not writing about the same thing over and over again?

I keep repeating that only 50% of eligible Malaysian voters come out to vote while 25% stay home and do not vote and 25% do not even bother to register as voters. I have been saying this for more than ten years since 1999. Okay, maybe since 1999 the numbers have increased from eight million to ten million to 12 million, and whatnot. But the percentages still remain 50% vote and 50% do not vote, with half that 50% not even registered as voters.

So what do I do? Say “malas nak cakap” and stop talking about it? Or, as what many accuse me of doing, I go on and on like a broken record until you all get so tired of my nagging that you go out and register as a voter just to shut me up?

Tian Chua of PKR thinks I am fantasising when last year I said Umno has targeted January 2010 to grab back Selangor. Tian Chua said this could never happen. Well, they also said I was fantasising about Umno about to topple the Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government through defections. I personally spoke to Anwar Ibrahim who spoke to Lim Kit Siang and they assured me that that lady is ‘under control’ and the ‘slight problem’ about her not getting a Camry had already been settled.

Then what happens?

Back in the old days it was “a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” Today, it is “a car, a car, my pussy for a car!”

At least the two Malay defectors from PKR had a ‘legitimate’ reason for defecting. They were caught on camera bonking two ‘China Dolls’ in a hotel room. With that testimonial to their name they would be most sought after in Umno where your rise up the political ladder depends on your sexual prowess. But to defect because you were not given a car is just too petty.

If I were to say that Chinese are very petty they would whack me for generalising. So I will not say that…and I didn’t, right?

And I keep repeating that in the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states the tail wags the dog and not the other way around. Again, many would say I sound like a broken record. But how to not sound like a broken record when after I keep repeating this they still do not do anything about it? The state civil service is sabotaging the Pakatan Rakyat state governments. They do things that hurt the Pakatan Rakyat state governments but still nothing is done about it.

Perak fell because the State Secretary plus the entire state machinery and the Malaysian Police Force worked against Pakatan Rakyat. And in Selangor the same thing is happening. The Pakatan Rakyat state government decides one thing and the civil service does the opposite. And what is the Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim doing about it?

I am very tempted to use a four-letter word here but I have been advised not to because there are those below the age of 18 who also read Malaysia Today.

And, to make matters worse, there are those in the Pakatan Rakyat state government who are Umno’s moles or Trojan Horses. These people intentionally do things that hurt Pakatan Rakyat. And these moles or Trojan Horses are in PAS, PKR, as well as DAP.

Remember a few days after the 8 March 2008 general election when I wrote an article about the ‘Unity Government’? I got whacked good and proper for this article and some even accused me of being a Barisan Nasional mole. Okay, I admit, I was just throwing the cat amongst the pigeons, like I always do, to trigger a reaction. Call it playing the role of the Devil’s Advocate if you wish.

But I had already got wind early in the day that Umno and some people in PAS were engaged in secret discussions to explore the possibility of PAS leaving Pakatan Rakyat to team up with Umno to form the state governments in Perak and Selangor. Umno even offered PAS the position of Menteri Besar in these two states and, to sweeten the offer further, Umno even agreed to implement Islamic Laws in these two states.

And I got this from someone very high up in Umno who admitted that he was the key man in the negotiations. And if I can get the IGP’s police officers to report to me how difficult would it be to get key people in Umno to also report to me? Yes, I’m boasting…so what? This is not the time to demonstrate humility. This is war. And in war anything is fair game.

This secret negotiation was at first denied of course. But later Nizar Jamaluddin, Khalid Samad and some other key PAS leaders admitted that it was true and that some leaders in PAS were working on the others to try to convince them to agree to the deal. Tok Guru Nik Aziz even mentioned these people by name and urged them to leave PAS and go join Umno.

Because not many, but only some, were agreeable to the deal, it did not happen. At least there are still many in PAS who are principled enough to not sell their souls. If not, by mid-March 2008, Umno-PAS would have been sworn in as the Perak and Selangor state governments. And Pakatan Rakyat (with only DAP and PKR remaining) would have been reduced to the opposition in these two states.

Do you know that the day they found Teoh Beng Hock’s body sprawled outside the MACC building was the day MB Khalid Ibrahim was supposed to have been arrested for corruption? Fortunately for Khalid Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat, the controversy of Teoh’s death forced the MACC to abort the exercise.

You could say that Teoh saved the Selangor government of Pakatan Rakyat. His death gave Pakatan Rakyat extended time. In that sense Teoh is actually a hero and the saviour of the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government. He died so that Pakatan Rakyat could live.

We must always remember Teoh for this. He died for his state. And that is more than what I can say for millions of other Malaysians who would not even dare risk their job in the interest of doing the right thing. Teoh sacrificed his life. We will not even sacrifice the money in our pocket. And we call ourselves patriots and loyal sons and daughters of Malaysia.

And these ‘patriots’ and ‘loyal’ sons and daughters of Malaysia would not even ‘suffer’ that small inconvenience of coming out to vote or to register as voters. Is one hour of your precious time too much to sacrifice? That is all it takes, one hour to go and register as a voter once in your life and to come out to vote once every four or five years.

Please stop posting comments praising me and calling me a hero and whatnot. I am tired of such postings. The next time you do this I am going to delete the posting and block you from ever posting again. And if you paid RM10 for the right to post comments in Malaysia Today, send me your back account details and I will refund you your money with interest.

I don’t need your RM10 if all you want to post are comments praising me. Instead, go do your duty. Go get as many Malaysians as possible to register as voters. And convince them to not waste their vote. Come out and vote on Polling Day. Who they vote for is their business but just make sure they are registered to vote and will come out to vote.

Registering as a voter is your constitutional right. But voting is not your right. It is your duty. So exercise your right and fulfil your duty.

Can we organise a demonstration in front of the Selangor State Secretariat building? Or organise a demonstration in front of PKR’s head office at Merchant Square in Jalan Tropicana Selatan 1, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

No, this will not be an anti-Umno or anti-Barisan Nasional demonstration. This will be an anti-PKR demonstration. Since MB Khalid Ibrahim is from PKR, and the adviser to the Selangor State Government, Anwar Ibrahim, is also from PKR, then we should target PKR. So let’s organise an anti-PKR demonstration in front of either the Selangor State Secretariat building or PKR’s head office at Tropicana.

We, the people, are the boss! We voted for Pakatan Rakyat, which enabled them to form the state government. So we tell them what we want. They do not do what they like. They do what we demand. And we demand that all this shit comes to a stop. Let us demonstrate our unhappiness about what is going on in Selangor.

Selangor is under attack. And Pakatan Rakyat fiddles while the state burns. It is time the people showed Pakatan Rakyat that we can no longer tolerate all this nonsense. Where is Anwar Ibrahim? He took over as the so-called adviser to the Selangor state government weeks ago but what has he done other than fly all over the world meeting religious scholars and delivering keynote addresses at international conferences?

If Anwar wants to play the role of ‘international statesman’ then that is well and fine with me. I have no problems with that. But then give up the position of adviser to the Selangor state government because he is never around to do the job and Selangor is drifting rudderless. And anything that drifts rudderless sooner or later gets stranded on the rocks.

Maybe Anwar is troubled with the move to send him to jail on a fabricated charge of sodomy, and now for being the 'mastermind' behind the church attacks as well. In that case take sabbatical leave and go solve your personal problems first. And after your personal problems have been solved then come back into active political life.

You can’t allow your personal problems to affect your performance at the expense of the voters who voted Pakatan Rakyat into office. And your performance is certainly shoddy indeed. This is a violation of the trust the people put in Pakatan Rakyat.

The people voted for change. They voted for a better government. But all they are getting is the same old shit.

Yes, I am repeating myself. But can I help not repeating myself when after saying the same thing over and over again nothing changes? Selangor is the jewel in the crown. So Umno will leave no stone unturned in its effort to get back this jewel. And what is Pakatan Rakyat doing about it? They are fiddling while the state burns.

Enough said!

No comments: