Nonpartisan Way of Saving Malaysia

A Kadir Jasin

THE DEDAK-eating** supporters of (Datuk Seri Mappadulung Daeng Mattimung Karaeng Sanrobone) Mohd Najib bin Abdul Razak had gone overdrive condemning and belittling the Save Malaysia People’s Declaration of March 4.

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They could not confront the declaration, especially the part on the alleged wrongdoings of the Prime Minister, so they attacked and maligned the signatories and those who spoke in support of it.

Mohd Najib’s immediate response was brief, superficial and weak. Soon after the People’s Declaration became public a government spokesman issued the following statement:

"Today, Tun Mahathir and his former enemies have demonstrated the depth of their political opportunism and desperation.

"There is an existing mechanism to change the government and Prime Minister. It’s called a General Election. And it is the only mechanism that is lawful and democratic that fulfils the people's will.

"In 2013 Malaysian people expressed their will and elected the current government led by the Prime Minister Najib Razak. If Tun Mahathir wants to change the government, he must follow democratic process and wait for the election in line with Malaysia's laws and Federal Constitution."

In the comment section of my posting on the declaration, I made the following remarks on PMO statement, in my capacity as one of the signatories:

(i) That being the case, Mohd Najib's premiership from 2009 to 2013 was illegal and unconstitutional because Tun Abdullah was removed without a general election being held.

(ii) In many democracies around the world, Presidents and Prime Ministers were removed from office legally without elections being called.

(iii) Yes, the rakyat may be willing to wait for the general election to decide the fate of the Prime Minister but investigations concerning 1MDB, the Prime Minister's RM2.6-billion private account and the alleged misused of the RM42-million SRC's money must continue to be carried out and the guilty party punished.

(iv). It is to their credit that former enemies, as the PMO’s statement puts it, have now come together as concerned citizens of Malaysia to call for the ouster of Mohd Najib through non-violent and legally permissible means.

[Please continue to sign the declaration online at

http://goo.gl/forms/klwIJrXZ9m
 
The Counter-attack Backfires

Mohd Najib’s subordinates in the Cabinet, Umno, the Barisan Nasional and the media may be showing a strong face and making belligerent statements in the media, but I sensed that they are worried and desperate.

Their maligning of the declaration and its signatories in the online media – the blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagran accounts quickly backfired.

A battle ground among pro-PM cyber troopers

According to Aljazeera, a public relations drive on Twitter by Mohd Najib to defend his position in corruption scandal has turned into a criticism tool. Just days after facing a political call to step down as Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak now faces more pressure from the public.
The hashtag #RespectMyPM was supposed to support Mohd Najib. However, said Aljazeera, that turned into a criticism tool against the Prime Minister.

Worse still, Mohd Najib’s own cyber troopers are at each other’s throat. His #RespectMyPM hashtag and other pro-Umno and pro-Government sites had been turned into battlefields by his cyber troopers. They calling each other names.

Having failed to gain traction in the propaganda warfare, there is nothing to stop the Prime Minister from acting more sternly and directly against his detractor, including the use of police power.

A former Attorney General, who was consulted on the People’s Declaration, had privately warned that there was nothing to stop the police and the AG from initiating criminal action against the supporters of the Save Malaysia movement.

The Challenge of Nonpartisanism

As for the non-partisan and people-oriented nature of the declaration my hunch is it will take some time for Malaysians to understand and embrace the new wisdom.

I noticed from the line of questioning at the post-signing press conference that even members of the media were unclear about the new concept. They kept coming back to “why is Tun Dr Mahathir cooperating with his former enemies”.

The media and young Malaysians have to understand

They could not grasp the idea of nonpartisanism and the fact that the signatories were affirming the declaration as individuals – as caring Malaysians who want the country saved.

For nonpartisanism to take root and national interest to take precedence over party politics, the mindset of the media practitioners and the young Malaysians must change. They have to be more open-mined and inclusive.

We have been so deeply partisan and communally divisive in our politics for such a long time that to digest and understand this new development will take time.

I won’t blame the reporters if the they were shocked seeing Dr Mahathir sharing the stage with individuals who are members of the DAP, PAS, PKR and Amanah. It was not an everyday scene.

But the people who signed the document at the March 4 gathering had been in conversations for months, if not years, since it became clear that Mohd Najib was being less than truthful and sincere in his personal affairs and the affairs of the country.

Be it tomorrow or years into the future the repeat of what’s happening today cannot and should not be allowed. The country and its people have suffered so much in the hands of one person. No future Prime Minister should be allowed to wield so much executive power and to act unilaterally.

It is for this purpose that the declaration in its concluding paragraph states:

“We call upon all Malaysians, irrespective of race, religion, political affiliation, creed or parties, young and old to join us in saving Malaysia from the Government headed by Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak, to pave the way for much needed democratic and institutional reforms, and to restore the important principle of the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary which will ensure the independence, credibility, professionalism and integrity of our national institutions.”

**Dedak eater or its Malay origin “pemakan dedak” was popularised by pro-Umno cyber warriors in the aftermath of last year’s Umno General Assembly. It came about when Umno vice-president (Datuk Seri) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced on Dec 11 that Umno would beef up its online propaganda by appointing more cyber warriors. This had apparently caused the displeasure of the existing operators who resorted to calling the potential new arrivals “pemakan dedak”.

Wallahuaklam.