Most of us were very enthusiastic and happy when we had a lady with the nerves of steel being very steadfast and determined to rally in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 9. But all of this was turned around by a clever move by the Prime Minister.
We seem to believe that it was the King who had made the move to call the Bersih Committee to reconsider its decision to rally on the 9th but by looking at the given facts and statements made, it seems that it may have been BN after all who had made Bersih walk straight into their trap!
As Professor Abdul Aziz Bari of the International Islamic University had put it, our monarchs do not partake much in the state of affairs of the nation when they are in their tenure of reign every five years.
They are very demanding and assertive when it comes to politics in the home states by comparison.
Therefore for the statement to have come from the monarch is something which will be quite difficult to believe as they usually do not interfere. We can safely say that when they serve their five-year term, every monarch in Malaysia is ready to play the role of the ceremonial head of state without taking on their real role as the guardian of the Federal Constitution.
This kind of an attitude is what the BN government has ingrained into the monarchs and their younger descendants over the last 54 years of governance. With Bersih being so edgy and worried in getting a call to have an audience with the King, the government of the day made a very clever move to out smart Bersih and its coalition of NGOs.
Now with the compliant and subservient police force still going all out to stop the rally by harassing the people in what ever way the law allows them, the entire build-up by Bersih has now been thwarted.
Bersih would have no other alternative but to now move to Selangor and have the rally at the Shah Alam Stadium which comes under the auspices of the the Selangor state government which is friendly to the cause of Bersih.
Even then, the police will descend on the people and make it difficult for them to get to the Shah Alam Stadium and partake in the rally. Therefore basically looking at it from the point of view of democratic principles, the federal government is determined to keep the majority of the Malays misled and mis-informed for as long as they can.
Looking at the manipulative ways used by the BN government, it looks as though it uses the institution of the monarchy to its advantage each and every time it gets in an entanglement which it finds that the only way out will be to use the monarch as a shield and when the task is achieved it brings out the sword and continues with its tirade on the people.
It never pays any heed to any royal advise, it feels that it doesn’t need to because all that they are required to do as monarchs when they assume the federal position as the King and head of State is to hear the advise of the PM and the government of the day and follow suit.
Therefore as a person, the reigning monarch doesn’t have an option to say no. This indirectly insults the institution of the monarchy and also an highly educated monarch who may have better world views on governance than the government of the day.
Bersih should have respectfully declined the invitation to meet the King and instead should have encouraged the King to accept the memorandum come July 9. The Federal government and its leadership seem to this day not understand how the Federal Constitution should be interpreted. It is the supreme law, the Police Act and the Penal Code are subservient laws and there should be no other interpretation besides that.
But unfortunately, the police no matter how highly educated an officer is, he or she still acts like an tuned automaton without any form of ability to opinion-ate on crucial issues of police discretion. I for one have seen many come to do their post-graduate courses in the universities and one can easily sum them up as nothing but eager pleasers who are trying their level best to go up the ladder in the force.
When it comes giving opinions about the Internal Security Act, they just robotically say that it is needed without giving any supporting arguments as to why it is necessary. Their knowledge of history is also very superficial but yet these are the very people whom we have to trust in policing this country.
Bersih will have to face the adversities of a regime which is now acting more like a junta with the police and the military now being roped, it further fortifies the notion that BN will never accept defeat and it will only go when the people rise and overpower them. Till then, it will be a huge task to make them understand the undercurrents that are going strong against their reign. But this is a start for many more uprisings to come, who knows one may be a mega one that will then over power the regime and allow us, the new Malaysians to start afresh as equals.
The BN will continue this manipulation as long as it is still in power, none of the so called supposedly independent institutions which have been made subservient to the BN due to the patronage factor of appointments and enjoying the plush and cushy life in gated and guarded communities.
It will not bother about what the Constitution says or guarantees, or what the monarch has to say, it will only follow its instincts which is to rule by hook or crook. So we the people have to rise up!
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