1 Apr 09 : 8.50PM By Deborah Loh
NO other issue dominates the Bukit Gantang by-election as much as the
Barisan Nasional (BN)'s 5 Feb 2009 takeover of the Perak state government
and the sultan's role in it.
As the BN and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) take to the campaign trail, who has the
better argument in what has become a neverending war of rhetoric? The suits
and counter-suits filed by both sides have not helped to clarify the
situation for voters, either.
The Nut Graph secured an interview with the BN's Menteri Besar Datuk Dr
Zambry Abdul Kadir on 30 March, and then threw the points he raised to PAS's
Bukit Gantang by-election operations director Asmuni Awi the next day, to
compare their arguments.
Zambry on the BN state government being an illegal one:
I keep on saying, who triggered this whole episode? It is the basic question
the public must ask, who triggered the whole thing? It's not a question of
who's right or wrong. The issue is that, it was triggered from somewhere.
One side must be right, the other must be wrong. The wrong side is their
side in the first place. And now they try to put the blame on us. They twist
everything and tell the public we are the ones who rampas kuasa. But people
should ask, who started it?
They were the ones who enticed our man (Bota assemblyperson Datuk Nasarudin
Hashim) first. Then it happened that he and three other assembly[persons]
left them. We never went to anyone of them. It was something that just
boomeranged on them. We didn't expect it to happen at all.
Asmuni on the PR starting the trend of crossovers:
We have never done any defections. Just look at Umno's history. They did it
in Terengganu in 1959 (when the coalition government of PAS and Parti Negara
collapsed because of defections by Parti Negara representatives to Umno),
then in Kelantan in 1968, in Sabah in 1993 by enticing representatives from
Parti Bersatu Sabah to switch allegiance to the BN.
This is a history that cannot be denied. Memang mereka yang baling tahi tak
akan mengaku.
Zambry on allegations that the BN used inducements to get the crossovers:
They (the PR) also use the same tactic.
Asmuni's reply:
Pemberi and penerima rasuah akan masuk neraka.
Zambry on the BN being afraid to face the PR in fresh state-wide elections:
Do you think they would do the same if this happened to them?
Asmuni on what if the PR were in the BN's shoes now:
It is not true [that we would not want fresh elections]. Even if the court
decides to uphold our petition - that Nizar is the legitimate menteri
besar - we will still seek an audience with Tuanku Sultan to seek a
dissolution. We won't cling to power even for a day.
Zambry on whether the by-election is a referendum on the Perak takeover:
This is only a by-election. Bukit Gantang doesn't represent the whole of
Perak.
Asmuni on why it is a referendum, and what if the BN won the by-election:
Despite Umno saying that it will change, and if people still reject them...
despite the constitutional crisis and if people still give PAS a high
majority - how can we not interpret it but as a referendum?
But if we are rejected, the question of whether the BN is the legitimate
government does not arise as it is a legal matter still pending in court. If
we lose, we have to study why people rejected us - was it because of the
issues, or underhanded tactics by the BN?
Zambry on the impact of the constitutional crisis on the BN's chances of
winning:
They (the PR) have been imposing their side of the story. They ridicule all
the institutions that seem to be against them, like the sultan. Sooner or
later the public will come to their senses and ask, what are they trying to
do?
They are playing [the constitutional crisis] according to ethnic interest.
They are not really looking at what else is going on in Perak. If you go to
the rural areas, you'll find that people just want to know how the
government can solve their daily problems.
Asmuni on how voters are accepting PAS's defence against the BN's
allegations of derhaka (treason) against the Sultan:
We have given extensive explanations and they have accepted it. History has
shown that Umno has also committed treason against the royalty. In Perak
history, there was Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi, who refused to vacate his seat as
menteri besar (in 1976) despite being asked by the late Sultan (Idris Shah)
to do so.
There was the removal of the rulers' immunity in the early 1990s, and
amendments to the Federal Constitution to hold back their assent to laws
approved by Parliament or the state assembly. Is that not called derhaka
when you take away the king's power?
http://www.thenutgraph.com/rulers-can-be-prosecuted-because-of-umno
Last year, Umno protested against the Terengganu Sultan who did not want the
menteri besar chosen by the prime minister.
http://www.thenutgraph.com/respect-and-royalty
Zambry on why the Chinese Malaysian community remains angry about the
constitutional crisis since the issue of derhaka has no traction with them.
We have to explain the constitutional crisis to them in a legal manner and
tell them that it was in accordance with the rule of law. We also have to
tell the Chinese [Malaysians] about the need to maintain peace and
stability. On one hand, you can talk about the takeover episode, but on the
other, if you allow this kind of situation to continue where any Tom, Dick
or Harry can take the law into their own hands, the situation can become
very racially dangerous.
Asmuni on where Chinese Malaysians stand:
The Chinese are smart, they have more access to the media. They have
accepted our explanation.
Zambry on PAS disobeying the Quran, which calls on Muslims to obey their
rulers:
If PAS is religious, they will understand that a verse from the Quran is
sacred and they won't go against it. They know that the Quran clearly says
that you have to obey God, obey the Prophet and obey the rulers.
Asmuni on obedience and dissent:
In Islam, there is room for dissent or "ikhtilaf". When we disagree, it does
not mean that we are not following Islam. In Islam, there is no total
obedience except to Allah.
But to other people, to leaders, as long as they do right we follow, but if
they do wrong we can voice our disagreement in a respectful way. We cannot
read Quranic verses piecemeal, we have to read in totality. There are other
verses that say that loyalty does not apply to things that are not right.
____
http://my-1.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/khalid-samad/22028
-the-bukit-gantang-by-election
The Bukit Gantang by-election
APRIL 2 - I arrived in Bukit Gantang at 5 in the morning of March 29. Headed
straight for the Taiping mosque as suggested by a friend. It was full,
overflowing at the seams. It looked as though we had taken over the mosque,
with many of "the faithful" wearing T-shirts and vests with clear Pas and PR
political colours and slogans written on them.
When the early morning or dawn prayers started, many were still queueing to
go to the loo as well as waiting their turn to do the ritual ablutions. The
mosque was so packed that many were unable to get in to pray together with
the "first batch". I was later told there were three "batches" before
everyone present got to perform their prayers.
At 7.30am special "hajat" prayers were held for the victory of Datuk Seri
Nizar Jamaluddin. Political loyalties were clear and the carrying out of
such prayers at any "establishment" mosque was unheard of a year or so ago.
By 8am everyone was ready to march on from the mosque to the nomination
centre about a kilometre away. I did not see any of the party leaders but I
saw the main banner at the front of the procession and followed. I was later
informed the main procession came from another gathering point, Air Kuning,
on the other side of town. The party leaders, together with Nizar, were with
the other procession.
When the two processions merged at the nomination centre, it was like the
meeting of two rivers. The area allocated was too small and the crowd
"overflowed", with many people climbing up the hill adjacent to the
nomination centre overlooking the open field.
They filled the hill slope while holding banners and flags. It was a sight
that I will remember for some time.
The Kelab Penyokong Pas was well represented. The Indian members of KPP
played their tabla continuously and made their presence felt. There were
side shows in the form of mini ceramahs at various locations to keep the
crowd "entertained".
The DAP leaders, members and supporters came in their numbers and they waved
both DAP and Pas flags. PKR leaders were also present but fewer in number
due to the by-elections in Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai.
I saw many wearing Nizar face masks and there were even a few wearing
Altantuya face masks showing her with a bandana on which was written "Who
killed me"?
When the nomination process was over, it was announced that there were three
candidates, one of whom was an independent from Pekida, an Umno-backed Malay
nationalist religious NGO. Seems like a contradiction in terms besides being
a mouthful.
At least it was not like Bukit Selambau which was seemingly an attempt to
get into the Guinness Book of Records! May the independent Pekida candidate
take away the Umno votes.
Seemed like everyone present understood the importance attached to this
by-election. For Pas and the PR, it is virtually a referendum on the issue
of the take over of the Perak State government by the BN.
A victory for Nizar would constitute concrete proof of the Perak rakyat's
rejection of BN's politics and their attempt to demonise Nizar as a DAP
puppet and a betrayer of the Malays. It would give Nizar and the PR of Perak
a strong basis to challenge the BN yet again for another showdown at the
state level to prove who has the rakyat's support.
A victory for BN on the other hand would silence the Perak PR who would then
be forced to admit a decreasing support from amongst the rakyat since March
2008. Datuk Seri Najib Razak would also be able to pounce on the victory as
proof of the people's acceptance of his new line-up and his proclaimed
intentions for change.
Then the parties got into gear and started their activities. Pas has its
party workers assigned to all the three state constituencies based on the
states from where they came. This was further broken down to the respective
voting centres based on the respective divisions or kawasans.
Selangor Pas was assigned to the state constituency of Trong and within
that, Shah Alam was assigned to the Air Terjun voting centre. Trong was the
one constituency, out of three in Bukit Gantang, that we lost.
As always, the mornings were for distribution of pamphlets and
house-to-house campaigning, the nights for the ceramahs.
After three days of semi-intense campaigning, a familiar pattern emerged.
The PR campaigners and leaflets were well received and the ceramahs brought
in the locals by the hundreds. The ceramahs are attended by a multi-racial
crowd and the votes of the Chinese and Indians seem "in hand".
This is a far cry from the empty tents during BN's ceramahs. It looks like
an uphill task for the BN from where we stand but then again, their
desperation for a victory may lead to desperate measures.
During this period there was already news of the police preventing some
ceramahs, the Election Commission stopping a ceramah well before the normal
midnight deadline on the flimsiest of excuses and Umno members harassing the
Muslimat who were on a house-to-house campaign. These tactics will hopefully
only turn Perakians further against the BN.
The word on the ground is that our votes in the Trong constituency will
increase in our favour. As a result the BN is already talking about
enlisting the help of the father of all Umno heroes, Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad, to help them in their campaign. Talk about desperation!
The old man may be able to swing some votes their way, particularly that of
the older folks, but he will definitely swing many more our way as well.
Whatever it is, the situation only promises to heat up the political
temperatures in the country as all talk of "unity government" is drowned out
by the battle cries of the by-election.
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Khalid Samad is MP for Shah Alam. He is also Head of Shah Alam PAS Division
and also member of the PAS political bureau which is the most powerful
bureau in the party. His website is www.khalidsamad.com
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