By Wong Choon Mei | SuarakeAdilanPolice fired the first salvo yesterday, with Inspector-General Musa Hasan saying he would leave it to state police to decide if they wanted to ban political ceramahs in Perak state, where there is a hardening standoff between the Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional over which is the legitimate state government.
His comments were taken as a harbinger of harsher action to come, and were soundly denounced by both Pakatan leaders and civil society groups, alarmed by the recent wave of cloak-and-dagger intrigue in the local political scene.
Pakatan leaders to defy the ‘undemocratic’ order
With popular support clearly behind the Pakatan and growing, police intervention would not be unexpected. The force comes under the federal government, which is currently run by the Barisan Nasional.
Ahead too is the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election, due to take place within the next 60 days, and where the Pakatan is expected to rout the BN.
The people of Perak are widely expected to express their unhappiness at the ballot box over the way their wishes for a state-wide snap election was by-passed by the Perak Ruler in favour of a new BN state government assembled by Najib.
Meanwhile, Pakatan leaders denounced the probable move as another ruthless act of oppression, underscoring how desperate Najib and the Umno-BN were to cover their tracks and gloss over their mounting unpopularity with the people.
Said KeADILan information chief Tian Chua: “They want an unfair advantage at Bukit Gantang. The raid on Suara KeADILan and the banning of the ceramahs in Perak remind us of the regression during Mahathir Mohamad era.
“Najib is planning to launch a massive clampdown not only to curb dissent, but also to clear his path to power.”
Najib back to the wall, cannot afford anymore losses
Tian was referring to the federal government’s raid on Pakatan newpapers Suara KeADILan and Harakah, which were confiscated by the tens of thousands over the past weeks.
Najib, who is due to take over when the more moderate Abdullah clocks out on March 31, has performed badly in the past months - losing by-elections in a row at Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu.
Unable to lose again, or risk being ousted from his own Umno party, Najib has resorted to stage-managing defections from the Pakatan to win, and also in a bid to show his party members that he can swing with the big boys.
But the situation has blown up in his face in Perak, where he depends on three Pakatan crossovers to give him the majority in the state government.
Angry Perakians have clamoured for fresh state-wide elections to determine their leadership, rather than have one concocted by Najib, and confirmed by their Ruler, forced upon them.
Both local and foreign civil society groups, including Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and Transparency International, have condemned the BN’s takeover of the Perak state government as questionable and lacking in transparency.
They have advised Najib and the Perak Sultan to desist, and return the mandate to the people.
With no light at the end of the tunnel, the 55-year old Najib is expected to go all out in a rampage for power, unabashedly resorting to the ruthless and ham-fisted methods employed by his mentor, former premier Mahathir Mohamad during his 22-year rule.
“Najib thinks he can show who’s boss by being Tarzan and swinging from tree to tree. But this is not the 1940s, it is not even the 1980s when Mahathir was supreme,” said a political analyst.
“Even so, people remember and all that megalomania has returned to haunt Mahathir in his old age. He can talk about his legacy, but Malaysians - especially the young ones - just see the huge corruption and mismanagement left behind in the system.
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