Instead of putting their shoulder to the wheel and maximising all efforts, keeping their ear on the ground and hearing the people's wishes, Umno-BN have rushed to the darkest side of the pendulum in their panic - misguided by Prime Minister Najib Razak and his questionable strategies.
Since Najib took over from Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia has become a hub and circus for gutter politics. Sad to say, the blame for this must go squarely to Najib, a first-term Prime Minister even though he may have been egged on by other members of Umno elite. As commander-in-chief, the buck stops with him.
Most happening thing
The most happening thing in Malaysia as far as the international community is concerned is now Datuk T trio. The scandal has kept them agog and in stitches over the bungling by the Umno elite as they scramble for jaded ideas to stay in power.
On its own, the Datuk T trio is nothing more than a group of faded Umno members, albeit with links to the top leadership. They comprise former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Perkasa treasurer-general Shuaib Lazim. The three men were the key figures behind the revelation of a sex video, which was alleged to feature Najib's arch rival Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
It was evident from the short clips leaked onto YouTube that the person in the video was in fact much larger in size when compared to the lean, almost skinny Anwar, although it is undeniable that there is a facial resemblance at first glance. This was of course exploited by the Umno-owned mainstream media as they only published and highlighted the portions where the resemblance was significant, while diverting attention from the difference in mass. It even led naive readers who refused to watch the video on moral and religious grounds into believing that the person is Anwar.
Those who saw the tape say it wasn't Anwar
However, this has been rubbished many prominent leaders who have since watched the video in full. One of these was Human Rights Party leader P Uthayakumar.
The lawyer, known to be a staunch critic of Anwar's, had spoken up in defence of the latter. Uthayakumar, who received a compact disc containing the video footage by mail, watched it with 9 other individuals. Every single one of them came to the same conclusion that the person in the video is definitely not Anwar. Uthayakumar also called on Najib to immediately end all the gutter politicking which his Umno-BN government has engaged in.
Knowing that the truth will soon be uncovered, the three Umno men recently intensified their efforts to consolidate their lies and dark conspiracy against Anwar. Shazryl not only took an oath in the mosque, he even challenged Anwar to a lie-detector test. The businessman was given widespread coverage by all government-owned media and he used the space to condemn Anwar.
All this while, the Inspector General of Police turned a blind eye on the illegal distribution and publication of the pornographic tape by the trio. Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, even went to the extreme of stating that the trio were protected by the Witness Protection Act.
Najib himself gave the go-ahead for the oath-taking session, which has been slammed by Muslim leaders as inappropriate and reducing the dignity of Islam. Nevertheless, Najib presevered and the Datuk T trio were duly escorted by police and FRU personnel into the mosque to make the oath.
World's 'swearing' hotspot
It does look like Malaysia may have officially turned into a 'swearing' hotspot. In 2008, the Prime Minister himself had sworn on national television about his non-affiliation with murdered Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu. Even so, few Malaysians believed him and watched with a feeling of contempt rather than any other emotion.
But to Najib and other Umno leaders, swearing would nullify all allegations aimed at them while confirming their own allegations aimed towards the opposition, especially Anwar. Their simple logic defies comprehension and begs the question that, will judiciary system of Malaysia one day be replaced by a 'swearing' system. Certainly, this would benefit the likes of Rais Yatim and Rahim Thamby Chik, who would then be able to 'swear' away their rape allegations as unfounded lies.
As a saying goes: when you lie once, you need to cover up the truth with a million more lies. Umno has put itself in a position of no return, and more lies can be expected in the coming months. It needs to kill off Anwar’s political career prematurely and wipe out the Pakatan's political challenge.
Fabrication of evidences, extortion of witnesses and manipulation of facts will continue to dog both the sex video saga and the ongoing sodomy trial - much like what had transpired during Anwar’s first sodomy trial which was orchestrated by former premier Mahathir Mohamad and his own set of Umno cohorts then.
Gutter politics will continue to dominate Malaysian headlines as long as Najib and Umno stay in power. Unless and until they drop this form of politics, Malaysians should reject such desperate and malicious attacks against fundamental decency and personal privacy.
- Malaysia Chronicle
Written by Jason Tan, Malaysia Chronicle
Written by Jason Tan, Malaysia Chronicle
No comments:
Post a Comment