Political Views

The present government is a government of peaceful negotiation

MANY politicians, government servants and laymen alike criticise the administration of the present Prime Minister and even come to the suggestion of asking the latter to step down from being the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But who has the right to demand a Prime Minister to step down! Not even those who in the first place appointed him to be the Prime Minister can demand for his resignation.

But, supposing the Prime Minister really steps down, would there be a guarantee that his successor could perform better than him especially in addressing the grievances of the presently too demanding Malaysian society.

The English proverb says, ‘No man is indispensable’. It means there is no king who can rule a state forever. A ruler no matter how able he or she is will be succeeded by another. But for our Prime Minister, let us leave it for time to decide.

My view is Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should be given more time to manoeuvre, as we can see that since he became the Prime Minister, there was an increase in bargaining power among politicians, including those from the opposition parties to negotiate political matters with the government.

Immediately after the election, politicians came up voicing to the public what they had not perhaps been able to voice out during the eras of previous Prime Ministers. We hope that the results of these current negotiations should bring politicians and the people to a win-win relationship with the government.

Isn’t this a sign of democratic freedom (of expression) in Malaysia.

But why do politicians want Abdullah to hastily step down when it is through his government that they found comfort and confidence to negotiate with? What would be the extra negotiations that could be settled or performances that politicians could do to the people after the present Prime Minister has stepped down?

For example, the Sabah oil royalty issue and the improperly recognised existence of the native people of Sabah and Sarawak should have been negotiated and settled in the parliament during the Usno or Berjaya time (the latter was an issue, which categorised the native people of Sabah as ‘others’ in relation to the three major races of Malaysia namely Malays, Chinese and Indians and to add here, following the racial categorisation, the major political parties in Malaysia were formed (named) based on the respective races.

By recognising the ethnic existence, Sabahans and Sarawakians too should equally have a major political party that is named after their ethnics.

I would rather suggest that politicians and government servants sit down and calculate how much blessings they have gained from living under the present government. A few days ago the Prime Minister said he was considering the extension of government servants’ retirement age.

Only after the election that politicians and readers incessantly write articles to newspaper editors, demanding their grievances to be heard by the present government. Why only now they wanted to negotiate with the Government what should have been negotiated long time ago?
It means that the present government allows for more democratic freedom for the people to express and to recognise their human rights.

By Joseph Yabai


Please do not stifle people’s freedom of expression

WITH the latest move of not renewing the publishing permit of a Tamil newspaper (Makkal Osai), it has become very obvious that Malaysia does not practise full democracy.

Our government always says the people can always have the chance to voice out their opinions and give feedback.

The authorities ‘shut’ it down without a proper reason, just giving the excuse that the newspaper was publishing news that was deemed detrimental to national unity and harmony.
Also they say the paper has been anti-establishment.

But I feel the paper was just giving the people’s views.

The authorities have accused the paper of being politically-motivated and have wrongfully come to a conclusion that because of the negative news published by it Indians have become disillusioned and turned against the Barisan Nasional.

It is the people’s newspaper, unlike some of the other newspapers which are hiding the truth from the people.

What happened to the government’s assurance that there will be no clampdown on the media? Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must not keep quiet.

He must ask the Home Minister to consider the newspaper’s appeal and give it a second chance.
Come on, the people are mature. They have eyes to see what is right and what is wrong; what they are supposed to do and what not to do.

If the authorities continue to clampdown on freedom of expression, I am afraid that the people or newspapers would not be able to provide accurate feedback to the government.
And this will not augur well for the ruling government in the next general election.


By Michael Lim, Kuala Lumpur Borneo Post Letter to Editor 21/04/2008