Written by Wong Choon Mei, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Is embattled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's prized home minister Saifuddin Nasution playing manipulative, even the dreaded '3R', politics? Is Saifuddin acting out his own 'reflex' or is he playing to a script that he knows or believes his boss wants? And the same goes for communications minister Fahmi Fadzil - another of the many so-called 'black sheep' in Anwar's hugely underperforming Cabinet.
Till now, neither the home minister or his ministry has deigned to issue an apology to a woman who was trying to renew her daughter's passport but got scolded by an immigration officer instead because she answered his question in English.
Frequently accused of 'confused' thinking, Saifuddin has been careful to practice a 'more Malay than Malay' brand of politics - less often seen during the powerless decades when he and party boss Anwar were in the opposition.
MALAYS DON'T BUY ANWAR'S STORY, NON-MALAYS LEFT 'CONNED'
Then, they were fierce warriors who fought against the use of 'race, religion and royalty' to divide the multi-ethnic communities that make up Malaysia. In those day, Anwar, Saifuddin, Fahmi, their PKR party and ally DAP would be the first to cry foul at any mistreatment of minority groups by the arrogant and Malay-centric Umno-BN government and later on the PN administration led by Muhyiddin Yassin.
But these days, it appears that nation-building is far from their minds as the ineffective Anwar struggles to cling to power and his 'Little Napoleons' search high and low for ways and means to convince Malays, the largest electorate in the country, to vote for him.
Unfortunately for them, Malays - long accustomed to successive versions of spin-and-tumble-dry political washing machines - can smell a rat a mile off. This time, it's the more naive non-Malays who have been 'conned' or caught with their pants down.
Nonetheless, whether Malay or non-Malay, make no mistake the fury of voters against Anwar and his hapless Pakatan Harapan coalition will be unmitigated if they don't apologize and move the hell out of their current manipulative and 'do-nothing-new' mode.
BACK TO SQUARE ONE - THE NAJIB 'POLICE STATE' DAYS?
Stunningly, despite team Anwar's past advocacy to use brain rather than brute force, their 'search' for political capital, relevance and usefulness has led his administration back to square one - the selective use of racial or religious politicking when it suits them, the suppression of freedom of thought and speech by clamping down on media and blogs that critique Anwar and his government, the use of intimidation and bullying to get their way. And of course, the use of grade A hypocrisy to pin the blame back on their opponents for 'manipulative' narrative and politicking when they are caught out.
Equally stunning has been the deafening silence of the DAP, who along with Anwar, seem to have forgotten their goals for power were to put Malaysia back on the path of fairness, justice and economic health via reforms that include reforming bulky institutions as well as repealing oppressive laws, such as the draconian security law Sosma that goes against human rights and were perhaps designed in part by the previous governments to shore up their own political survival.
All these were the hallmarks of the previous Umno-BN and PN regimes. Perhaps by the time Anwar nears the end of his 5-year term, if it is even possible for him to survive that long, the situation will become the worst ever in Malaysian memory.
"A year has passed, there are still three more years, if Anwar doesn’t succeed, he will be the biggest failure,” human rights group Suaram rebuked the Anwar regime for its 'forgetfulness' over its promises to repeal the Sosma law, which allows for detention without trial for 28 days.
Anwar doesn’t need to come forward for all issues, continued Suaram, "but he has to make sure that his team, especially the ministers, move and do the work." And with that last sentence, the rights group hit the nail on the head!
UNCARING ACTS OF RECALCITRANCE - THE BUCK STOPS WITH ANWAR
Indeed, what on earth is Anwar doing? No doubt, he has a reputation for sloppy and disorganized work, a typical politician who comes alive only when belting out political oratory - but surely Anwar must stay mindful that his team and ministers are doing right by the people. If not, what right does he have to ask the citizenry to vote for him to be their PM? How wrong have Malaysians been about Anwar?
Has he chastised Saifuddin for playing the race card or scolded his communications minister Fahmi Fadzil over the torrent of complaints that freedom of expression, the press, the social media including blogs were being suppressed and bullied in the name of defending his 'hero-ship', the prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim?
Or are these uncaring acts of recalcitrance being done with his tacit approval? Since when has Anwar become Kim Jong-Un? Yet if not, how else can bootlickers and Little Napoleons sprout up and mushroom so quickly and extensively in his increasingly desperate administration?
In fact, Anwar's 'Madani' government has equaled and may soon exceed the terror days of former premier Najib Razak's 'police state' - when all levers of the government were used to gag critics until at one point, even the color of yellow, the color chosen by clean and fair polls group Bersih, was declared 'illegal'.
BOOTLICKING & NON-THINKING
Extreme hypocrisy, non-thinking and cringing bootlicking were the culture of Najib's day in government. And are now the hallmark and staple of the Anwar administration. The low standard is too marked to go away and will likely haunt his legacy - which already is foreseen to be the thinnest among all of Malaysia's 10 prime ministers.
“Some may not have received formal education. Are we going to punish them further instead of helping them?” MCA senator Ti Lian Ker had hit out in response to Saifuddin's immigration fiasco - adding that there were many other ways to resolve the issue of a citizen’s inability to speak the national language.
“Immigration officers should not take it upon themselves to penalise or punish these defects. Furthermore, it is not required by law to be proficient in Malay to renew passports. It is also unconstitutional for the officers to act beyond their authority or powers,” added Ti.
Another to rebuke Anwar and his ministers was legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty.
"To impose such a condition is unlawful, high-handed and will create alarm among the public," said LFL director Zaid Malek.
VACUUM IN MALAYSIA - VACANCIES FOR SINCERE LEADERS
"Unlawful"! Yes, that's what LFL said. Indeed, what were Anwar and his ministers thinking? Their behavior - including the DAP's spectacular silence - has not only opened the door for political rivals to have the last laugh but has forever opened the eyes of Malaysians.
Indeed, there is now a vacuum in the country's hyperactive political scene - for decent, sincere new political leaders and not actors or sycophants. But after the terrifying lesson taught by team Anwar and their apparent power-hungry ways that smack of putting self-interest above public interest - pardon the people for being cynical.
For sure, the loss of faith will be reflected very deeply in one form or another in the next general election.
Written by Wong Choon Mei, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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