When the Kajang by-election was forced by the resignation of its assembly man last month to make way for Anwar Ibrahim to contest, there were many opposing views on the necessity of the elections. It is more than a month now and the by-election is just days away. Since then 3 major events have reshaped the political landscape that made it a golden opportunity for the people to express their views on the performance of the federal government.
The first was the Appeals Court move to rush in abruptly and without regards to all accepted judicial practices to overturn the High Court’s acquittal of Anwar Ibrahim more than 2 years ago. The High Court then came to the decision after over 2 years of deliberations in the trial. The appeals procedures were brought forward by about a month and held 2 days away from the nominations for the Kajang by-elections. The Appeals Court took just 90 minutes and working well past the normal working hours to overturn the verdict and sentence Anwar to 5 years jail. That disqualified him from contesting in the by-election whose nomination was just 1 working day away. If their motive is not just to bar Anwar from contesting in the by-elections, what is then? But the learned judges say they were just following the laws of the country and we are expected to accept that without question.
The second issue was the sentencing of Anwar’s defence lawyer and veteran politician Karpal Singh for sedition. This was for giving his legal opinion on issues surrounding the constitutional crisis in Prak in 2009.With the sentence he disqualifies to be a MP. This again they say is just and in keeping with the laws of the country.
The third issue is the handling of the oncoming search and rescue operation of the lost MAS flight MH370.The investigation by the international community reveals the sorry state of our national defence and the ill prepared state of our national aviation agencies. They seem to be totally confused not knowing what to do and how to go about leading the investigations of such a major international tragedy in a professional manner.
In fact we have become a laughing stock for the world. After years of independence and with so much wealth we are left far behind the other advanced countries as far as technology, training and professionalism are concerned. We buy sophisticated equipment, machines, planes and even submarine but unable to utilise them in times of need.
We now have a government that is not just corrupt but incapable of managing any crisis. All it knows is local politics in which all opposition must be put away at all costs. After living in all the comforts suddenly comes MH 370 which forcefully breaks open all the fortresses the ruling elite have built to protect their comfortable zones.
The Kajang by-election this Sunday which started as a controversial
involving Anwar one a month ago has now suddenly opened up a bigger
opportunity for the people to record their frustrations on what is going
on in the country, ruled by an incompetent elite who are cut off from
the rest of the world. The voters of Kajang must rise up to do justice
for all Malaysians come this Sunday to vote with great wisdom and
discernment.
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