©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Kalimullah Hassan
• NST Editorial: False alarm
TWO weeks ago, at a dinner with an Asean ambassador, I was asked within minutes
whether a change in government would take place on Sept 16.
"Would it?" I asked the ambassador. I was really tired of
people everywhere only talking about "Sept 16" instead of moving on.
"Well, Western ambassadors seem convinced that it is going to happen," he
replied.
That's when I laughed and told the ambassador that if that was his barometer of
determining the truth, then he had better tell his colleagues that wiser folk
had been fooled many times in the last three decades by Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim.
But that's Anwar's magic and gift. He can tell different things to different
people, contradict himself over and over again, and still have many who believe
him.
Arsenic poisoning, escape to Turkish ambassador's house
because of death threats, the list could go on...
Maybe even the DAP's wily old fox Lim Kit Siang fell for the Anwar magic,
believing that he would be a senior member of an Anwar–led government and would
be able to finally push through policies and ideals he had harboured for more
than four decades in politics.
Maybe some of the Young Turks in Pas believed in Anwar's second coming and
thought about the Islamic reforms they could implement and enforce in a
government where they would have an important voice.
Never mind that the DAP and Pas, despite being partners in the opposition
alliance, have until today disagreed vehemently on the latter's Islamic state
aspirations.
So there we were... having nice Italian food in a great ambience with yet
another person wondering what would happen in Malaysia if 916 took place.
Well, 916 did not happen. Now, Anwar says "another few days..." and there are a
host of reasons why he cannot announce the names of –– Western diplomats
convincingly say 31 Barisan Nasional members of parliament –– those who HAVE
crossed over.
Come on now, Datuk Seri Anwar. Get on with it.
If you have the numbers, go and form the next government.
God knows that the majority of Malaysians are really tired of these mind games
Anwar and his cohorts like Kit Siang are playing.
One foreigner, who lived here for many years and now works in Singapore, perhaps
best described it when he told me recently that "this is the longest election
any country must ever have had".
Since March 8, when the opposition took five states and denied the once–powerful
BN a two–thirds majority, Anwar has been predicting he will form the next
government and confidently describes himself as "the prime minister–in–waiting".
First it was June, then July and then, according to Anwar, no later than Sept
16.
Each time he failed to meet the deadline, he would come up with new dates and
new reasons and, meanwhile, what happens?
Foreigners who want to invest are afraid to put in their money because investors
never like uncertainties. They want to see, if a new government takes over, what
the policies would be.
Would Pas push through Islamic laws which affect the investment climate?
Will the DAP and Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat have greater investment–friendly
policies and throw out the remnants of the New Economic Policy?
Will there be riots and mayhem? What is going to happen?
And slowly, but surely, foreigners have exited the Malaysian Stock Exchange as
well –– because of the uncertainties.
Foreigners do not think that Bursa Malaysia, already troubled by the slowdown
and failure of some of the world's largest banks in Europe and the United
States, the credit crunch and rising commodity prices, is worth the political
risk Malaysia poses.
Today, we have some of the best run Malaysian companies trading at unbelievably
low valuations. Yet, there are no takers. Why?
Well, thank you Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and gang, I say.
Some people, in frustration, ask: "Why can't they just show what they can do
with the five states they are governing?
"If they are good, we will vote them in the next elections."
The BN has been taught a very good lesson for its arrogance, for the abuses by
some of its menteris besar and ministers, for not delivering many of the
promises it made.
Yet, the voters decided that they are willing to give the BN another chance at
the federal level.
If the BN does not change, if it cannot win over the hearts and minds of the
people again through good governance and policies, then this is probably their
last term in power.
So the question asked is why cannot Anwar and Kit Siang wait until the next
general election?
They did lose the federal elections, didn't they? And wasn't it Kit Siang who
attacked Anwar in 1994 when the then deputy prime minister led the "coercion and
crossovers" of state assemblymen like Datuk Yong Teck Lee and Datuk Dr Jeffrey
Kitingan to cause the fall of the democratically–elected Parti Bersatu Sabah
government led by Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan?
What has changed now that Kit Siang is no longer against defections through
coercion?
Perhaps, like all other politicians, the sweet smell of power is too strong and
has overpowered principles.
Anyway, both Anwar and Kit Siang are now in their 60s. Five years is too long
time to wait, perhaps...
The best thing Anwar can do –– if he has the numbers –– is to end the
uncertainty, announce the crossovers and seek to form the next government.
Maybe then, he can restore his credibility, and maybe then our country can
better equip itself in fending off global economic challenges instead of having
Anwar's politics further mess things up.
NST Editorial: False alarm
DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim seems to delight in playing this nation like a tin
whistle. All are aware of how much on tenterhooks the citizenry was in the days
and weeks leading up to Malaysia Day this year; the day Anwar had said would be
D–Day for the Barisan Nasional, when he would announce the crossovers of 30 or
more members of parliament from the BN to his Pakatan Rakyat coalition and "take
over" the government of Malaysia. The stock market has slid. Investment has been
on hold. As several of the putative defectors were said to be from Sabah and
Sarawak, relations between those two states and the federal centre have been
stressed. Yesterday morning, jittery citizens were even wondering if they should
stock up on essentials. By mid–afternoon, however, it was apparent Armageddon
was to be postponed. Again. The end of the world for the present government was
not, after all, nigh.
The cynicism of this is truly breathtaking. Anwar now says he indeed has the 31
MPs he needs to topple the BN government, but he doesn't want them harassed.
This is manipulation of an order to match that of the blogger who insists his
outrageous claims are backed by evidence he won't reveal "to protect his
sources": the cheapest of shots is covered by the most mealy–mouthed of hedges.
Instead, Anwar says he will reveal his new cohort of parliamentarians "in a few
days". It would seem what is most important to him is to keep the country
destabilised and uncertain, rather than go ahead and make someone's day.
The question is: why? Why this ghastly dance with the nation's destiny? It has
been more than six months since the March general election, and national
governance has hardly got off the ground. It has been said emphatically enough
that the electorate indeed returned a verdict at the March 8 polls; there is
indeed an elected government in place, but these increasingly ridiculous
machinations have prevented any semblance of sound governance since then. Is it
Anwar's intention to simply chip away at the edifice of state until all is in
ruins? And is that the sort of leadership he expects his followers to cheer?
This country is turning blue from holding its breath waiting for the next dread
deadline of the PR and its components. Enough is enough. In case they haven't
noticed, there is a nation to run –– and these pathetic political games are
running it only into the ground.