Perak MB - how else could DAP have protested?
Malaysiakini.com
Mar 21, 2008
ProArte

I refer to Dean Johns’ article
Bloggers go ‘berak’ in Perak.

It seems that the response to Kit Siang's initial objection to Nizar, the new Menteri Besar of Perak has not been fair or rational. In fact is has been hysterical without any real regard for the truth and facts.

How can Kit Siang be anti-Malay or anti-Muslim if the DAP CEC which Kit Siang is a member, endorsed Jamalludin of PKR who is Malay and a Muslim for the post of MB?

The Regent of Perak is regarded as an intellectual and has publicly gone on record exhorting Malaysians to feel beyond a shadow of doubt that irrespective of their colour ,creed or geographical location, they really belong to this land.

There was a genuine feeling that the DAP candidate would be considered for the MB-ship by virtue of having the overwhelming number of seats in the coalition as would be the case in a fair democratic process. In the event, the democratic spirit was subverted due to adherence to the constitutional restriction which barred non-Malays and non-Muslims from the highest office.

The royalty, in their wisdom, chose not to waive this constitutional caveat which they had the authority to do. Surely, any reasonable person would understand the great disappointment of a party which is rejected because its candidate is told in effect that he does not really 'belong' to this nation and hence cannot serve in the highest office because he has the wrong colour and religion.

To further compound the problem, the candidate from PAS, a party with the least number of seats was chosen. Anwar and Kit Siang had recommended Jamaluddin of PKR in the event of Ngeh being excluded. How does this square with the democratic process?

It is well known that DAP did not have a pact with PAS and was dead against their stated aims of setting up an Islamic state and introducing Sharia and Hudud law. After all, it is Hadi Awang who has called for the death penalty for apostates and has yet to make a retraction. They may have down-played these goals for this election but who is to say they will not renege?

We must understand that Hadi reneged on the BA manifesto in 1999 and tried to introduce a whole slew of Islamic laws which were discriminatory such the Kharaj Tax for non-Muslims, including support for the Taliban. The 2004 election rout revealed to PAS that even Muslims were dead against their vision for Malaysia.

The people who voted for DAP did not vote for a PAS MB. Are they not allowed to protest at the triple injustice?

1) The injustice of not having the MB-ship on the basis of having a candidate with the wrong colour and religion.

2)The injustice of the endorsed candidate from the DAP/PKR pact who is Malay and Muslim being rejected.

3) The injustice of appointing an MB from a party with the least seats which wants to introduce the death penalty for apostates.

In this mad rush for power, the bloggers - with their disparate ideologies - have come down like a ton of bricks on Kit Siang purely because DAP had legitimately chosen to show their deep disappointment by threatening not to attend the swearing-in ceremony. How else could DAP protest? Kit Siang was not being biadap to the royalty. Yes, he did apologise to the Regent but he apologised on the basis of the perceived insult, and not on the legitimacy of the protest.

As things stand, we have the Lina Joy who has been a Christian for more than 10 years and who wants to marry her Christian boyfriend but cannot do so. This is because the civil courts have denied her her constitutional right by failing to recognise her Christian faith and have unconstitutionally imposed the Muslim label on her. The Shariah courts which Anwar Ibrahim has so much confidence in has separated Revathi from her beloved Hindu husband because it refuses to accept that she is Hindu despite undergoing six months of psychological torture in an Islamic rehabilitation centre, in a failed attempt to get her to renounce her Hindu faith. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous other cases. What answers do Anwar and PAS have for these wronged people?

The above are not trifling issues and go to the heart of what democracy, human rights and dignity is all about. The cybertroopers who attacked Kit Siang's blog with their 'berak' (as Dean Johns puts it) have shown their true colours. The scurrying for power has seen racial discrimination, religious bigotry and the subversion of the democratic process win the order of the day.

Isn't this BN all over again? Quo vadis BR?

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