Waheed has been forced to reward those who put him in power, with huge tax breaks for wealthy businessmen and fat pay raises for the security forces. As a result, the country is sliding towards bankruptcy, while vital public services such as universal health insurance are being slashed. On Sunday, Waheed's regime announced it would press criminal charges against me for ordering the arrest of a judge in January. The judge in question, Abdullah Mohamed, stood accused of abuse of office, corruption, political bias and, in one notorious incident, instructed a small girl to act out the sex abuse she had suffered, in open court and in front of the accused. Mohamed was detained by the military after he quashed his own police arrest warrant, and used his position on the bench to halt an official investigation into his own misconduct. I know of no democracy that would passively condone such unlawful actions by a judge. Waheed's Home Minister, Mohamed Jameel, who promised shortly after the coup that I would spend the rest of my life behind bars, has described the charges against me as "historic" and said it is the government's "first step towards national healing." I was recently elected as my party's candidate for the next presidential election. But if I am convicted of these charges -- which is a given, considering the political bias of the judiciary -- I will conveniently be barred from standing against Waheed or his allies in any forthcoming poll. The United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva, which last week grilled the Maldives on its poor human rights record, had this to say of the judiciary:Tourism officials describe the Maldives as "the sunny side of life," but for those of us who live there, an archipelago nation of 1,200 coral islands off the southern tip of India, there is a dark side to paradise. This weekend, pro-democracy activists hijacked a government tourism campaign, tweeting that for its inhabitants, the "sunny side of life" is laced with blood, tear gas and brutal police crackdowns.
I was fortunate to be voted into office as the Maldives' first democratically elected president in 2008, ending 30 years of one-man rule by former president Gayoom. But in February this year, I resigned from office, following a police and military mutiny and threats from armed soldiers that they would harm me, my family, and my supporters if I did not step down within the hour. My Vice President, Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who I believe had prior knowledge of this coup d'état, quickly assumed office and stacked his administration with figures from the country's authoritarian past. Since February, the Maldives has been in a political tailspin: the new regime has launched a violent crackdown, arresting over 700 pro-democracy activists who have been protesting for early elections and the restoration of democratic rule; Amnesty International has condemned the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments against detainees, particularly women; whileReporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists has decried an erosion of press freedom. The regime has even arrested witnesses, including Members of Parliament and a former police intelligence chief, who have testified before a Commission of National Inquiry tasked with investigating February's coup. The European Union, India, and the Commonwealth, which represents 54 countries, have all demanded early elections but Waheed refuses to heed the will of the international community, or his own people. The nation's economy has fared little better than its politics. My administration, with the help of the IMF, managed to reduce the budget deficit from 22% of GDP in 2009 to 9% last year. But since the coup, and the ensuing chaos on the streets, tourists numbers have fallen
Lim Kit Siang challenge the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to prove he is a responsible political leader and Malaysian nationalist when raising the spectre of May 13 wanting to prevent any recurrence and not indulging in the low- class, irresponsible, unscrupulous and contemptible double politics of fear and race to preserve UMNO/Barisan Nasional in power at all costs in the next general election.It has been reported that at a national youth conference held in Parliament yesterday, Muhyiddin called on the young generation to be united in order to ensure the country remains stable and peaceful and to avoid a repeat of the May 13, 1969 trageedy.Muhyiddin was quoted as declaring at the conference: "We don't want May 13 repeated."The recent statement by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that it is good to hold the 13th general election this year is an indication that Najib Tun Razak’s days as Prime Minister are numbered, commented PAS Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin.Muhyiddin has already tipped his hand and displayed his intention because his statement is in stark contrast to Najib’s statement of wanting to finish his term as Prime minister, which will only expire in April next year.According to Nizar, it is clear that there are undercurrents in UMNO as the warlords consider Najib a liability and may be attempting to oust him.Najib wants to win big and in order to do that, he wants to be sure of obtaining support from the majority of the rakyat before he calls for the polls. Therefore, he is delaying the polls in order to woo more voters.On the other hand, Muhyiddin, who is watching like a hawk, senses that the hour is at hand when he can deal a lethal blow to his boss. One cannot fault Muhyiddin for trying to seize the opportunity. And it is all due to Najib’s fickleness in regard to the polls date. Najib’s indecisiveness made him fail to call for the polls fast.And that is why till to-date no one knows when the 13th general election will be held. Instead, Najib has announced that the Sedition Act will be replaced by the National Harmony Act. This is all a waste of time. Should just get rid of the Sedition Act. Fullstop. And get the economy going. Prices of foodstuffs are soaring. Especially fish.The nation is bogged down by uncertainty as manufacturers, business owners and investors are in a quandary and financial planners are stuck as their projection has been put on hold.
Non-stop politicking
As the captain of the country, Najib has to be serious in steering the ship and stop toying around with the general election date. He should get it done and finish with it before September 28 when the budget will be presented.“Perhaps he is afraid of dissolving Parliament because once he has dissolved it, he cannot undissolve it should he change his mind and this is what terrifies him the most,” opined Khalid Samad, the Shah Alam PAS MP.That is so but as the leader of the nation, he has to be decisive and not launch and unlaunch things as what had happened in the Civil Servants New Remuneration Scheme and the MAS-AirAsia share swap deal.There is much confusion for the citizens when the captain is unsure of himself. He lacks the ability to command due to his indecisiveness. But then if he is so indecisive, what about his advisers?In the meantime, the UMNO leaders are telling the Malays that if Pakatan Rakyat wins, DAP will be the powerhouse while MCA are telling the Chinese that if Pakatan wins, PAS will be the powerhouse. UMNO and MCA leaders must think that the voters are pretty stupid for not comparing notes.And as long as the polls are not called yet, it is 24-hours politicking orchestrated by BN and Pakatan has got no choice but to be dragged into the game. Actually it has been non-stop politicking since March 8, 2008. Never before has this happened in Malaysian political history.This is the first time that this is happening because Najib is insecure and paranoid with the general election date which must be causing him sleepless nights.
Has he got the courage?
He must get to grips with the date as he has promised the rakyat that his transformation plans will serve as an impetus to spur the nation forward. He must chart the course of the nation but right now he is floundering about and, if one morning he has some bright idea on what sort of goodies he wants to give to the rakyat, he gets about doing it.His whole plan is disjointed and lacks cohesion because it is all in bits and pieces. He is just playing by the ear and does not have the grand design of things in his vision. Is he adopting a wait-and-see attitude due to blur visualising?And as long as this goes on, the ordinary rakyat will be blundering in the dark and suffering because of his indecision. It is high time he put himself and the rakyat out of this agony by calling for the polls before Sept 28.Has Najib got the courage to steer the ship instead of just standing there holding on to the steering?“This is the first time in Malaysian history that we have a prime minister who is afraid of calling for the polls,” remarked Mahfuz Omar, the PAS MP for Pokok Sena in Kedah.
Pakatan will do all it can to prevent recurrence
On behalf of DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, let me officially respond by declaring that we in DAP and Pakatan Rakyat also do not want a repeat of the May 13 tragedy and we pledge to do all we can to prevent any such recurrence.
DAP and Pakatan Rakyat offer to co-operate and work closely with UMNO and Barisan Nasional to ensure that there will be no repeat of May 13 in the next general election, and Malaysians are entitled to ask how there could be a repeat of the May 13 tragedy if both political coalitions - Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat - sincerely pledge to work together in the national interest to prevent any such recurrence?
I confess I am concerned at the way Muhyiddin raised the spectre of May 13, which had been used in the past decades to create fear among voters as part of the scare tactics to force voters to vote for UMNO and BN, as it raises the question whether the DPM was giving an assurance that there would be no May 13 recurrence or he was subtly threatening that there could be another May 13 if UMNO loses power!
Could there be another May 13 in the next general election? My answer would be a strong NO.
Without going into the debate as to who should be held responsible for the May 13 tragedy in 1969 (and there are diametrically conflicting accounts and versions of who should be held responsible and this is why right from the beginning after the May 13 riots, DAP and I had called for an independent Royal Commission of Inquiry into its causes) the circumstances today are completely different from those prevailing 43 years ago in 1969.
The most important difference between 1969 and the 13th general election is the emergence of a multiracial multireligious naional coalition represented throughout the country to peacefully and democratically challenge UMNO/BN's hold to power in Putrajaya -as the Pakatan Rakyat coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP is a Malaysian coalition of all races, religions and regions in Malaysia!
Only the most irrespnsible, anti-national and treacherous elements in our country can try to distort and misinterpret a PAkatan Rakyat victory in the 13GE as victory of one race against another, as to justify wild thoughts tinkering with the idea of anther May 13, when any victory for Pakatan Rakyat will be a Malaysian victory representing all races.
Is Muhyiddin sincere when he declared "We don't want May 13 repeated".
If so, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should break his silence and answer the question I had posed to him many times in the past three years - whether he would declare clearly and unequivocally that he would accept the verdict of the people in the 13GE, including the election of a Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya to replace the Barisan Nasional and that he would personally ensure and facilitate a peaceful transition of federal power for the first time in the nation's history, to tell the world that Malaysia has becoome a normal democracy and even en route to become, in Najib's own words, "the best demoracy in the world"!
The rebels' ability to strike at the heart of the Syrian regime's feared security apparatus, to battle its troops in Damascus and take control of border crossings, in a coordinated, well-planned and executed campaign, shows that Assad is doomed.
The 'Damascus Volcano' has not only left the regime reeling, but it is highlighting the self-defeating futility of two aspects of realpolitik - callous, cynical power-politics from Russia (and to an extent, Beijing) and the defeatism of the West. Only a dose of pragmatic idealism can now prevent the volcano sparking an inferno in Syria and beyond.
The immediate risk is that the audacity of the rebels will provoke an escalation in brutality from regime lieutenants who calculate that defeat will bring them the fate of Colonel Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, or Slobodan Milošević. Given that they are now bewildered, desperate and murderous in equal measure, possess chemical weapons and are led by a man whose father slaughtered 20,000 in 1982, the stakes could not be higher, most importantly of all for civilians.
Moscow's calculation that the mere provision of a diplomatic shield would prevent Western intervention and gift Assad both the time and military resources necessary to crush dissent has proven to be as misguided as Soviet leaders' attempts to contain popular uprisings in the late 20th century.
The old realist calculus that power buys influence is being undermined, for had they truly countenanced political reform and transition to a post-Assad era, Russia's chances of securing its strategic military and economic interests in Syria would have been far higher. Those leading the post-Assad Syria won't forget who supplied the shells and tanks which killed so many of their comrades-in-arms and civilians.
Neither will the West's refusal to countenance any form of military assistance have gone unnoticed by the rebels. The West sacrificed Syrian civilians' human rights to liberty, life and limb on the altar of realpolitik, claiming variously that military intervention would not work because of the great potency of Syria's military, and that UN Security Council endorsement is the ultimate arbiter of legality and morality.
The rebel's advances have shown that the best diplomatic and military minds from Whitehall to Washington were incompetent at best, or disingenuous at worst in overstating the tenacity of the Assad regime. Given that the rancid, brittle underbelly of this dictatorship is now exposed for all to see, we now have one final chance to use our superior military power to help the rebels secure victory.
As for the UN, its well-meaning efforts are a case study in how impotence flows from the sum of the parts of the dis-united nations which comprise the international non-community. Despite this, it is the UN which, in a best case scenario, could steer Syria towards a peaceful future and away from the oblivion of sectarian conflict. The ghosts of previous interventions such as Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and non-interventions such Darfur and Rwanda, must be laid to rest.
The pro-and anti-Assad UN Security Council members must now swallow their pride and unite around a UN-sanctioned plan which would: deter Assad from any Hama-style atrocity or the use of WMDs; authorise military force to assist the rebels in hastening the regime's demise (following an ultimatum to the regime); and promise not a UN talking-shop, but an action-oriented conference attended by all regional and UNSC powers, to establish a temporary UN 'mandate' over Syria, enforced by UN-authorised troops (preferably including the troops of nearby nations).
Good-willed people of the world must pressurise their governments to countenance such measures so that we defeat the defeatism and curtail the cynicism that has been on display as our leaders have deferred to the worst aspects of realism in international affairs.
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