An interesting entry from Tan Sri Sanusi Junid on the political landscape in Malaysia- this article is an excerpt from his blog (in 2010) ; TSSJ dissected Raja Petra's opinion on Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan. Please take note that the political landscape in 2012 has changed. Back in 2008 voters simply  voted for Pakatan out of  protest for the previous premiership of Pak Lah. Has DS Najib been successful in maneuvering CHANGE WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT? Read on 

 

 

RAJA PETRA'S VIEWS ON 'IRRELEVANCY' ARE RELEVANT

1. I am impressed with the interview with Raja Petra by New Sunday Times journalist Ahmad Fairuz Othman at a hotel suite in Singapore which appears in the New Sunday Times of 1st January, 2012.

2. It was a good welcome message for the New Year.

3. I quote Raja Petra as published:

a) Even when Nelson Mandela went to jail for 27 years, there was no campaign to free Mandela. Even the Free Mandela Group was a campaign to end apartheid.

b) In Myanmar, it's about a political prisoner. It's about freeing a political prisoner.

c) But Anwar is being put on trial not on political grounds but on criminal grounds.

4. The Free Anwar campaign 901 (not to be read as 9/11) is therefore not the same as the Free Mandela campaign. Furthermore the judgement on Anwar has not been made.

5. It was further reported that Raja Petra said:

d) I have spoken to some people who were with him when he was in the government. They have pointed out what he did. And I asked him and they say, "You know, Anwar has his shortcomings.

e) Anwar has his skeletons in the closet. Yet you support the opposition. Their answer is, "What choice do we have". It all boils down to that. What choice do we have.

6. It is clear as we know that the voters were fed-up with the UMNO and Barisan Nasional leadership. But that was the leadership up to the General Election of 2008.

7. Raja Petra is reported to have also said that:

f) People support Anwar purely because they see him as the only alternative to what we have now.

8. But that was the sentiment as in the year 2008. Even Tun Dr. Mahathir, and a few others, left UMNO in protest against the leadership at that time.

9. Dato' Seri Najib is now the Prime Minister. He is different from his predecessor.

10. If it is the alternative that the voters are looking for then we could rephrase the above statement to read "(f) People support Anwar purely because they see him as the only alternative to Dato' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi".

11. The alternative to Dato' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is now Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

12. Is Dato' Seri Najib a 'Winnable Candidate'. The answer is yes.

13. If the supporters of Anwar cling to him despite him having his 'shortcomings' ( as in 'd' ) and has 'skeletons in the cupboard' ( as in 'e' ), surely they can support Dato' Seri Najib, despite all criticisms thrown against him because someone wants his job.

14. Raja Petra is obviously a shrewd and brave observer. I follow his ideas in the blog and I met him three times in Manchester, once in Lotus Restaurant owned by a Malaysian lawyer. His daughter is a very successful landscaper and a friend of my daughter who is finishing her studies for a PhD in Architecture. I spent long hours with Pet even before he came out openly on the 'Altantuya' case. I knew about the untruths written in the media about him living in a luxurious bungalow in London. He lives in a terrace house in Manchester.

15. I admire Raja Petra's guts whatever his political views. I was taught by my boss Minister Tun Ghazalie Shafie when I deputise him in the Ministry of Home Affairs, that one should be open-minded and be able to interact with anybody even those whose views differ from yours.

16. Raja Petra compared the Pakatan Rakyat with the Liberal Democratic Party in Britain which he told me have done more in a shorter period even though it is only a minority coalition in the British Government.

17. Raja Petra, Anwar and I all studied at MCKK with different seniorities. We know one another well. I was glad when Raja Petra is reported to have said:

g) To me the issue of Anwar is not whether he is or not guilty with sodomy. The issue is whether he is the best person to run the country. Can he run the country? Now, you might be the most God-fearing man on earth; you can be absolutely clean. But if you cannot run the country you cannot run the country.'

18. Besides living on borrowed glory, permitted by Tun Dr. Mahathir Muhammad, I cannot remember Anwar doing anything good for the country, even those that have gone wrong or have failed. Kukrit Pramoj once said 'one need not do anything in order not to fail.' In that way one can highlight the failure or weaknesses of others.

19. I was informed by Senator Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor at a campaign for Kalamanathan in the Ulu Selangor by election, that Ezam was glad to see me in person for the first time as since he knew Anwar he had been listening to his former mentor bad-mouthing me on every occasion. I now know that Anwar has bad or distorted memories after reading his supporter's comments in this blog.

20. Raja Petra has better memory when he reminded that he was asked to clean the name of Datuk S. K..

21. Referring to Anwar as the Economic Adviser to Selangor state which is under Pakatan Rakyat Raja Petra asked:

h) What's your advice? In the last three years since you have been Economic Adviser, you have gone overseas 60 times in three years. Shouldn't you be staying home running the state? Running the party? Running the coalition? The coalition is in a mess. People are fighting with each other. He seems to be running away.'

22. It is good for the leadership of UMNO and Barisan Nasional to pay attention to what Raja Petra has written. After all the winnings of PR in 2008 have had added advantage of being supported by the Malaysian Civil Liverties Movement led by Raja Petra. I don't think we should forget that the minorities are the rulers in a divided society.

23. Raja Petra further said:

i) I think it's time Najib grabs the bull by the horns and call a spade a spade.

j) Najib must be prepared not only to take a knife but take a chainsaw and cut whatever needs to be cut.

24. I agree with Raja Petra that the Rakyat of Malaysia are tired of the word 'sodomy' and that the agenda for change is not about personalities. There is no way to attach the adjective holy to the word sodomy. A lot of time has been wasted on this issue.

25. I also noted that Raja Petra does not support Barisan National but there is no alternative. He said:

k) This time we go back to Barisan, forget about Pakatan.

CONCLUSION

26. What is important now is to have 'courage' or 'guts'.

27. Some have the courage to defend their wrongs, others have the courage to say the truths, the voters need leaders with the courage to decide, lead and change.

28. That is,

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.

-Courtesy of Tan Sri  Sanusi Junid