The mystery of the Perak state swearing in, the agreements made by the 3 component parties in relation to equal sharing, Lim Kit Siang’s outburst and the subsequent apology to the Sultan of Perak, PKR threatening to pull out, subsequent compromise to meet the Sultan at 4 pm, the last minute cancellation by the palace, will take time to unravel before the truth comes out. Even then it will be a partial revelation as each party will try to convince the people they are in the right. The truth will remain hidden as only the participants will know what transpired, and they are not matured enough to spill the means worried sick of the response from the common man, that is you and me.
The explanation or part of the explanation given by PKR is below and I leave it to you dear readers to read, but keep an open mind while others start commenting. Tell your self the voters will decide at the end who went wrong.
What bothers me is that, everything that has the various communities arguing over or getting involved is automatically labelled as racial conflict. It can be an accident, it can be a theft, it is a crime, a case of corruption even a murder and the label is attached so and so community is involved, as if in mitigation the misdeeds are only committed by that community and none other forgetting any of the incidents cover the whole strata of the population of Malaysia and no one group has been privileged to commit one as such. We acknowledge the incident and second attach a mental note this particular community normally does it and if your community is not involved, you justify yourself see I told you so.
This question of race is authored by the Government that rules, it gives them a convenient umbrella to relate everything to race to simplify matters. May 13, unsheathing of the kris, rallies for justice, warning by leaders and now the latest phenomena in swearing in the Barisan Alternative governments raises the ugly head of communalism. Every body is tense, will another tragic incident trigger off the races fighting one another, as if, the second most important important hobby of Malaysians is to run out to the roads and threaten his neighbours. Think, would you want to hurt Uncle Lim, Uncle Zul or Uncle Muthu whom you know over the years and still injure them. The saying is don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house and it is a good pointer not to fall into the trap of communalism. This is because we have our own lives to lead with it’s problems and trials and do you want to make it harder to think along communal lines.
I received an e-mail warning people there is going to be a toll protest very shortly, authored by the Government, and please don’t join the group as this is a ploy to get attention and create trouble. Two things I can do, get worried, look out for news for any protest and if there is one shutter myself in my house, pass the contents of the e-mail, warn them, warn them before anything happens. The other ignore the message and tell myself I am a Malaysian and don’t cause panic, and even if an incident happens hope the Government can control it. I am sick of race politics and raising racial issues over everything, so much so, it may come to a stage where a group of people running to help you, and if this group belongs not to your skin colour, think my I am in trouble, how paranoid can I be.
And so readers, coming in to the swearing in, be optimistic it will be solved, don’t be panicky in what you say and write, the problem will solve by itself. What if…don’t worry you can’t do much either, no government can condone it and call it restoring peace, people are going to get angrier. Just one simple illustration, the rallies received more attention than necessary, because of the uncalled enthusiasm of the government, if the rallied had been allowed, after all they were peaceful demonstrations not to change the government but to express a view, and if that had allowed do you think the elections results would have been shocking, losses maybe but not drastic.
May 13 was decades ago at a time when people were coerced into it, people now are smarter.
Malaysiakini reported that: “PKR threatens to pull out of Perak state admin.”
This again sent chills and migraine for the supporters of Barisan Rakyat and reignite their anxieties and frustrations.
I quickly take a look at what Nathaniel Tan had to say in his blog Jelas.info and there Nat provides an explanation to the position of PKR on the conflicting reports. This is what Nat had to say:
Before we get worked up over anything, it is important to have a full understanding. Allow me to decipher, if you please.
Not being part of a state administration is equivalent to not being part of the Cabinet, but still being a backbencher in the majority government.
It is very important that we understand this.
What Dr. Syed said is that under this arrangement, KeADILan will refuse any Perak State Exco seat.
He also said – and again this is very important – that regardless of the outcome, KeADILan will still support a DAP-KeADILan-PAS led state assembly (and thus, government).
So before we take in sensationalist accounts, I hope we can consider the facts.
As to what is fair or unfair with regards to the Exco positions et al, I suppose that is a matter of opinion.
You can read his piece here: Perak Keyword of the Day: Administration.
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Here is the full text of Dr. Syed’s statement:
KeADILan’s Position on Perak
Parti Keadilan Rakyat accepts the decision to elect PAS State Assemblyman, Sdr. Ir Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar of Perak. While at first we stressed the need to choose an individual that will be well received by the majority, we now accept the decision in the spirit of cooperation between KeADILan, PAS and DAP as well as in the interests of stability and harmony for Perak and for the whole of Malaysia.
Nonetheless, we do not agree with the agreement made between PAS and DAP with regards to the composition of the Perak State Exco wherein eight Exco seats are given to DAP and the remaining two given to the other parties. In the spirit of sincere openness, we stress that the composition of the Exco must reflect the composition of the population of Perak and represent the interests of all ethnic groups fairly. All parties must be sensitive to the hopes and sentiments of the people.
We ask that this composition be discussed again and if the composition is not altered to the satisfaction of all parties involved, KeADILan will not take part in the administration of Perak.
However, we will continue to honour our agreement to support the coalition government of Perak.
Dr. Syed Husin Ali
Deputy President
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Meanwhile there were rumours and sms text messages calling on the Malays to a rally at Istana Iskandariah to protest against the DAP “for challenging Malay supremacy.” (source: Malaysiakini) Perak police chief Zulkefli Abdullah warned the public not to assemble outside Istana Iskandariah in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, this afternoon.
Is UMNO and MCA ganging up to create a racial war so as to declare an emergency state or to forced the Sultan to call for a snap election? The news of conflict between the BR coalition seems a great opportunity for UMNO to create some chaos and racial tensions to reinforced a slim chance to get back the government of the state.
The people of Perak must decide for themselves whether they wanted racial conflicts to erupt and destroy the peace they had enjoyed. PKR-DAP-PAS must also decide whether they should cooperate or let UMNO destroy the nation.
Posted by Maverick SM at 3/13/2008 02:09:00 PM ![]()
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Labels: Barisan Rakyat
Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin: Perak Politics: PRK’s position
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