Be fair to Anwar

I just hope good sense will prevail. To quote the late Jimi Hendrix:

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.'

Though the above quotation seems to apply to Anwar’s perceived love of power, it can also apply to those who cling on at all costs.

I don’t deny I am one of the many who wish for a change in our political landscape. What with blatant corruption, certain people above the law while others persecuted and so on.

I have actually stopped buying newspapers, except weekends since my wife left for UK and I could read most news online.

The Star columnists seem to take turns to make fun of Anwar’s 916:

Raslan Sharif actually trivialised Anwar’s objective by comparing it with deadlines associated with homework and reporter’s stories!:

"For one thing, we had Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “Sept 16” campaign to take over the government.
It soon morphed into a “Sept 23” campaign to take over the government.
And now it has changed again, into a “have a little patience” campaign to take over the government.
I’m neither disputing nor supporting Anwar’s claim that he has enough members of Parliament on his side to take over the government, but there’s this thing about the importance of keeping deadlines, which is one of the first things you learn in school.
It is made clear to you early on that you must hand in (or “pass up”, as we used to say) your homework on time.
No ifs, no buts, no excuses.
I also had the honour of working as a journalist, a profession that treats deadlines as sacred.
You do not miss them upon pain of death, in the sense that there are editors who can make you wish you could crawl into some little hole and just die, or so I am told.
(Now you know where the “dead” in the word “deadline” comes from).
If it is important for schoolchildren to hand in their homework, and reporters their stories, on time, it is especially more so for Anwar to “pass up” on time, for several reasons.
One, his deadlines were self-imposed. Nobody forced Sept 16 (or Sept 23) on him.
And more importantly, we are talking about the government of a country here, not primary school exercises or tomorrow’s fishwrap.
No offence meant, but it’s time for the MP from Permatang Pauh to take to heart some of the lessons he undoubtedly learned in school, and, as they would say in America, put up or shut up."
Learning to keep to a deadline

How could he compare such deadlines with that meant for a change in government?

For not keeping to one’s words, how does Pak Lah’s change in succession plan compare? He is not strong enough to even keep to a stated timeframe, being subject to Umno’s Supreme Council. For a PM of Malaysia, is there any consideration for the people’s wishes?

Baradan Kuppusamy : ‘Anwar had used media power to ready the people to expect a march to the palace to claim the prime ministership of Malaysia but instead they saw him coming out of a court complex on Wednesday.’

My immediate reaction was, Anwar’s media power? What’s that compared to a virtual monopoly of our mainstream media by the BN?

As to the expected march to the palace but instead saw him coming out of a court complex, I am sure the majority of the public know the reasons and the power of incumbency. Anwar might be guilty of showmanship but who could deny the complexities of a change of government ‘in accordance with rules, laws and constitutional processes so as not to endanger the people or the economy’? Something unprecedented with the outcome unpredictable – anything could happen.

I would prefer Kim Quek’s take on the matter anytime:

Anwar promptly and swiftly made his moves on Sept 16 and the following days. On Tuesday 16th, he announced that he had already secured the support of the majority of members of Parliament and requested to meet Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi (Pak Lah) to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Pak Lah rejected the request on the same day, calling Anwar’s claim a “mirage”. Failing to secure a meeting, Anwar then requested on Thursday 18th that an emergency session of Parliament be convened not later than Tuesday 23rd to debate a motion of no confidence. Again Pak Lah rejected the request on the same day.
After these two rejections, Anwar appears to be embarking on the third course, which is an audience with the King to establish evidence of Anwar’s majority support, thereby seeking a royal intervention. This may result in the King calling for an emergency parliamentary session to settle the issue of who actually commands the confidence of the majority in Parliament; or he may choose to ask for the change-over of government to take place – resignation of Abdullah and his cabinet, followed by appointment of Anwar and his cabinet –, if His Majesty is fully satisfied of Anwar’s majority support, and if so requested. But of course, Pak Lah could always pre-empt such a royal intervention by promptly exercising his privilege as prime minister to call Parliament into session to debate the issue.

If it is shown that Anwar does not have the majority, well and good, the people should thenceforth be satisfied with Barisan Nasional’s legitimacy to rule and extend their co-operation accordingly. However, if Anwar has successfully established his majority, whether through a vote in Dewan Rakyat or through other legitimate demonstration of free choice of members of Parliament, then Pak Lah and his cabinet should resign to pave the way for a change of government in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
What the nation is most concerned with at this moment is whether Barisan Nasional will unleash a repressive dragnet to thwart such a constitutional transition, as it has been prone to such indulgence in the past. The latest example was the recent wanton arrests of innocent civilians using the draconian Internal Security Act, though the Act was only meant to be used against armed insurgency.
And even Anwar appeared to be threatened by such ISA arrest when Pak Lah on Sept 17 suddenly called Anwar a threat to national economy and security, with such threat only eased the next day when Pak Lah said he had no intention of making any ISA arrest during his press conference after the fateful UMNO Supreme Council meeting where he was pressured to quit.

Unless and until Anwar is given a final test in Parliament, we shall never know for sure who is calling whose bluff. He asked for but was flatly denied an early Parliament session to prove it. Is it fair to say that he cried wolf once too often?

Kim Quek is not alone in cheering Pak Lah to do something heroic for the country:
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT?
Will Pak Lah behave like a democratic gentleman in his lingering days of power and allow the Constitution to take its natural course which may see Anwar coming into power, or will he condone laws and institutions to be abused to frustrate the constitutional process?
In this respect, it is pertinent to recall that Pak Lah played a positive role on two important turning points in the democratization process of the country. The first was when he allowed the court to act without political interference that resulted in the freeing of Anwar on 2nd Sept 2004. The next was his graceful acceptance of the stunning set back suffered by Barisan Nasional in the general election of 8th March 2008. These events could not conceivably have occurred under the repressive rule of former autocrat Mahathir Mohamed.
In view of Pak Lah’s expressed intentions to carry out reforms in the past and his propensity towards more liberal rule, he may yet preside over, as premier, the third and perhaps the final turning point towards complete democratization by safeguarding the Constitution from being violated by unscrupulous politicians. If he does that, his final days as premier may yet be moments of his crowning achievement – a fair-minded prime minister who courageously stands by his pledge to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution’ at the crucial moment of transition of power, thus becoming instrumental in ushering a new era of reconstruction and rejuvenation from the current decrepit state of the country.