The politics of business and democracy

… Come, my friends,
     ’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
     Push off, and sitting well in order smite
     The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
     To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
     Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
     It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
     And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. (56–64)

–Alfred Lord Tennyson, Ulyssess

The Ballot Box: The Ultimate Arbiter in a Democracy

by Terence Netto @www.malaysiakini.com

COMMENT Because the ballot box is the ultimate arbiter of distempers in a democracy, Malaysian voters must be anticipating the next general election – the 13th in their history as an independent country – with unusual keenness.

The fact that the number 13 is freighted with an ominous significance because it connotes a tragic chapter in Malaysian history – the May 13 riots of 1969 – renders added frisson to the anticipation.

The thunderheads that have boiled up on the political horizon to set voters on edge present an idiosyncratic mix of issues of personal sexual morality and ones of grave national import.

Just now an issue concerning the sexual morals of a contender for the prime ministerial position, Anwar Ibrahim, has taken centre stage, to the exasperation of legions of his supporters, not because they do not think that it matters, but because they view the rules for adjudicating it as hopelessly rigged against him.

Also, it is of little help to their serenity that they see at least one of his accusers, in the case of the video allegedly showing him in a transaction with a sex worker, as tainted with same brush that is now being used to blacken Anwar. Few things are as annoying as the pot calling the kettle black. Likewise, few things can be more exasperating that attempts to infer an aspirant’s moral credentials to govern from his or her private sexual morals.

One does not have to subscribe to Plato’s dualism of the mind and body to hold that it’s best to keep the spheres of public and private morality separate, especially private sexual morality. But because to the majority of Malaysians religion is a public matter, these spheres cannot be held to be separate.

No precedent in modern history

No politician has done more in the last four decades in Malaysia to make religion a public matter than Anwar Ibrahim. So there is a rough kind of poetic justice to the travails he has now to endure.

It is hard to find a precedent in modern history for the very public and humiliating trials by innuendo and insinuation he and his family have had to endure – in Sodomy I, Sodomy II and now in the sex video controversy – over the last 13 years.

Perhaps the closest comparison one could find would be the hounding of the American civil rights Martin Luther King Jr by FBI director J Edgar Hoover in the 1960s. Hoover kept up a steady stream of pressure on King and his wife by circulating aural evidence of the civil rights leader’s sexual misdemeanors. But, in the main, that pressure was applied away from the public gaze. Consequently, the psychic hell that King and Loretta had to endure was private.

In contrast, Anwar and family have had to endure very public tribulation which the ordinarily

decent are loath to justify. The fact that elementary standards of due process have been denied him in this odyssey of public humiliation adds to the repugnance felt by the decent over his and his family’s treatment.

That is why at this juncture the 13th general election is being awaited with mustard-keen anticipation.There are issues of grave public moment that should compete for the public attention’s but right now the manufactured sensation of Anwar’s private sexual morality has taken centre stage.

It makes you want to believe in the truth of the concept of the wound and the bow, the literary principle that the psychic wounds one suffers on the way up in life become the bow that launches the effort at grand rectification.

One hopes that would be true about Anwar. He has had to endure much; would that eventual vindication and rectification be proportionate to his travails.

The plot to frame Anwar is revealed!

Eager to become prime minister, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was prepared to sacrifice his own race, just to get non-Malay support, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today

Digg Digg

The civilised world must be outraged by what is taking place in Malaysia. Justice is being trampled upon and truth is being sacrificed for political expediency without shame or remorse. And it is not fair that we have to suffer this humiliation.

Thinking Malaysians are perplexed how on earth the police went ahead to investigate Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy even though there were allegedly medical reports confirming that there was no basis for their action.

According to the medical report in the possession of Malaysiakini, Saiful was never sodomised by anyone, least of all by Anwar Ibrahim. Dr Mohamed Osman Hamid from the Hospital Pusrawi had confirmed this fact after physically examining Saiful on 28 June 2008.

Yet four hours later, Saiful made a police report at the police pondok in Hospital Kuala Lumpur that Anwar had sodomised him. At 6.00pm on that day, Saiful went to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for his second medical examination which, according to an unverified report by Raja Petra, also confirmed that Saiful was not sodomised. Nevertheless, he made his police report against Anwar.

The police cannot claim that they were in the dark over the existence of these reports. In any case, the police are required to send victims of rape or sodomy for a medical examination to confirm the allegations and collect vital medical evidence for prosecution purposes.

When Saiful made that damning report against Anwar, he must have surely disclosed to the police that such an examination had already been carried out by doctors. That being the case, the police would have obtained these reports and must be fully aware that the police report made by Saiful was therefore without any merit.

Yet, why was Anwar arrested, questioned and detained? Doesn’t this indicate that there was a plot to vilify him and convict him on false charges? If the police had acted professionally, would they have gone ahead with what they had done, unnecessarily putting to risk their reputation and credibility? Or were they taking instructions from politicians who felt threatened and therefore were bent on destroying Anwar to preserve their power base?

The whole sodomy episode reeks with injustice and stinks to high heaven. This sordid affair brings to mind something that was said long ago: “Of all injustice, that is the greatest which goes under the name of law, and of all sorts of tyranny the forcing of the letter of the law against equity, is the most insupportable.”

Under the circumstance, Aliran is horrified and revolted that the police have seemingly paid scant respect to the rule of law. They owe an explanation to the public.

There are reports floating around that Dr Mohamed Osman Hamid from the Hospital Pusrawi had gone missing because it is alleged that he is being harassed to change the report to implicate Anwar. Aliran would like to know if this is true.

Aliran would like to know whether the medical report in the possession of Malaysiakini apparently from Hospital Pusrawi and signed by Dr Mohamed Osman Hamid is genuine and a true and faithful copy of the original report that is with Hospital Pusrawi.

Aliran would like to know whether the police is brave enough to make public the existing reports from hospital Puswari and Hospital Kuala Lumpur in order to end the rumours circulating that these reports have indeed vindicated Anwar Ibrahim.

Aliran would like to know in the event when these reports are verified as true and genuine whether the police would forthwith drop all charges against Anwar and stop hounding him as if he has a case to answer.

Aliran would like to know when it is established that Saiful had made a false report to the police whether he would be arrested and charged immediately.

Aliran would like to know the unseen hands behind this episode who had apparently used Saiful to frame Anwar for their political survival.

This matter has dragged on long enough and it is time to bring it to a closure without any further delay. Will the Prime Minister out of respect for the dignity of the human being and in fairness to justice display common decency in setting up a Commission of Inquiry to bring to book all those who had tarnished our nation with their nefarious activities which had brought to question the credibility of our police force?

P Ramakrishnan

President

The scandalous porno tape, used in desperation to implicate Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allegedly engaging in sex with a prostitute in order to turn the tide in favour of the Barisan Nasional during the Sarawak election, refuses to fade away even after the Sarawak election.

Graphic: musramrakunman.blogspot.com

It was a widely publicised news item and – according to some reports – the tape was even distributed in the longhouses in Sarawak to disparage and demean Anwar and present the opposition in poor light to gain political mileage for BN.

The police declared that the tape was genuine. The people were made to feel that very soon the sordid episode would be unravelled and the person in the tape exposed.

The various statements in the public domain created the perception that it was Anwar in the porno tape. The police conveyed the impression that it was a matter of time before Anwar was exposed as the owner of the Omega watch stolen by the prostitute. The Omega watch seemed to be the most important missing link to establish Anwar’s identity.

But to their utter disappointment there was no record of the purchaser in Taiwan, where the watch was apparently bought. The missing link went missing and they were no nearer the truth.

Now they say ‘they will not hesitate to expose to the public if necessary “the performer” in the sex video who allegedly resembled opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.’

In other words, what they are saying is tantamount to the fact that they have identified “the performer” but they are not inclined to expose “the performer” unless it was necessary to do so.

The Malaysian public is rightly confused. What is meant by unless it was necessary? Why then did they go to such great length to find out the owner of the Omega watch? You took the trouble to trace the watch all the way to Taiwan.

What was the purpose? Wasn’t it to link “the performer” to the watch so that you can definitely identify “the performer” and expose him?

If it wasn’t necessary to identify “the performer” why is Anwar being harassed? He was called to give his statement a second time yesterday (28 April 2011). Unless you have irrefutable evidence that the character in the video is indeed Anwar, there was no necessity to ask him to report to Dang Wangi district police headquarters. Is it because they want to keep this shameful episode alive?

It is as though there is no other worthwhile issue in this country for the media to comment on and for our political leaders to discuss. Have we become so depraved that sex scandals have to hog the limelight and take up so much of the nation’s time and attention?

Malaysians have a right to be sceptical about the whole sordid affair. It is evident that there is a concerted effort to finish off Anwar in the interest of the Barisan Nasional. He is the only person standing in their way who can prevent the BN’s continued reign in Putrajaya. That being the case, would it not be logical to expose Anwar right now?

But why aren’t they doing it? Is it because “the performer” in the video is a pretender?! If it was Anwar, they would have gone to town with this information during the Sarawak election to disparage and destroy the opposition with one stroke. The print and electronic media and the blogs and websites would be gleefully swarmed with this news for days on end. But that is not happening!

But they are dragging their feet in this affair for far too long even though there doesn’t seem to be much hope of unearthing the truth. Why are they spending so much time with regard to Anwar when there is a simple, straightforward issue at their doorstep crying for a remedy?

The terrible Datuk Trio who were in possession of a pornography video should have been charged by now. The terrible Datuk Trio should be facing the music for screening a pornographic show to the public. With so much irrefutable evidence against the trio staring at and challenging the police, why is there so much foot-dragging? Why is there a reluctance to take action to punish those who screened a pornographic video? What is holding up the police and the Attorney-General?

Karpal Singh had rightly pointed out that prostitution is not an offence but using the premises for prostitution or living off the earnings of a prostitute is an offence. According to Karpal, “Whomsoever solicits or importunes for the purpose of prostitution or any immoral purpose in any place shall be punished with imprisonment…” If that is the law, where does Anwar fit into this? What offence is he guilty of?

A report has it that the police have located the place where the sex act took place and identified the prostitute. Why haven’t they taken action against the owner of the premises for allowing his place to be used for “immoral purpose”? Why haven’t they taken action against the person who procured the services of the prostitute?

The villains plotting to crucify Anwar have been identified; their involvement in this sordid affair has been established. Why are we not moving in on them?

P Ramakrishnan is president of Aliran