By : JOE FERNANDEZ
THERE are pros and cons in the continuing tragedy of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim who is wailing bucket of tears on his suspension for six months from Parliament.
He should consider the suspension period as a blessing in disguise. He should use it to embark on roadshows to explain to the people that Parliament is not what it should be and is being virtually used as a rubber stamp despite a sizeable opposition presence. The ruling Barisan Nasional has not learnt any lesson from the loss of its two-thirds majority. The people have a right to know as well.
He can use the roadshows to add a few other issues like Altantuya Shaariibuu, the trap set by his political enemies for Sodomy II–the sequel to Sodomy I–Putrajaya, his favourite town, and the judiciary when it comes to the government in particular. The roadshows can be the starter to the general election campaign.
Meanwhile, Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia can be hauled up before the courts, not that it would do Anwar any good, considering what happened in Perak. The judge in question even had the temerity to remark that the judiciary could not interfere in what happens within the state assembly.
Who’s asking the judiciary to interfere? What is required is some kind of ruling, and let it be non-binding, pointing out that the hooliganism that went on in Parliament was a disgrace.
Hopefully, the judiciary will not disappoint the people in the case of the Parliament Speaker. Something should come out of taking Pandikar Amin to court over the suspension of Anwar and his other “comrades in crime”. The MP from Kota Belud, Sabah, has any number of issues against him that should be raised in court. Hopefully, the court will censure him and then he will have to resign if he has any ounce of dignity left.
Pandikar Amin’s present post in Parliament is not because he deserves it but because Sabah and Sarawak had somehow to be politically pacified after the 2008 political tsunami which saw the two states emerging as kingmakers in Parliament in Peninsular Malaysia. His ineligibility, on this score, to be Speaker of Parliament speaks volumes.
Why Pandikar Amin when he comes from the tiny, that is, fewer than 5,000 Irranun community which came from the Philippines? That’s because the speculation is that he’s part of the gang of three including one Filipino Federal Minister and a Former Sabah Chief Minister, a Banjar from Indonesia, working day-and-night to oust the present state government. That’s how Pandikar Amin became Speaker. However, he continues to bite the hand that feeds him. He entertains Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak with all sorts of fairy tales on Sabah. He should stick to ghost stories.
Anwar no angel
Between Pandikar Amin and Anwar, the de facto PKR chief is no angel either.
Although Anwar should not have been suspended from Parliament, and certainly not for six months, the fact is that he brought this down on himself. This is one point that Pandikar Amin can cite in court with reference to ‘hukum karma’ (the law of karma), that is, cause-and-effect, not that the judge is going to buy it. At least Pandikar Amin can entertain the judge for a change instead of Najib all the time.
Anwar has been involved, for one, in unjustly suspending his own party members whom he felt was a challenge to the status quo in the party. He did this recently in Sabah to put a spanner in the works for Jeffrey Kitingan and Zaid Ibrahim. This resulted in the former staying out and the latter pulling out in the midst of the race for the deputy presidency – not that he would have won anyway, but that’s beside the point.
Now that Anwar has been suspended, he should feel the pain, the anger and the humiliation of others when they are similarly dealt with unjustly. In short, he has got a dose of his own medicine. It’s his karma come to visit him. He can only neutralise it by accepting it. In Islam, it’s mandatory for Muslims to submit themselves to the will of God. The terrorism that takes place in the world today is a deviation from this very core of Islam.
Karma is neither positive nor negative. It’s neutral. Good, bad, ugly, beautiful and evil are human perceptions.
The more Anwar fights his karma, the greater the punishment that will be inflicted upon him but greater will be the reward too if he can find a silver lining in the clouds, and consider everything that happens as a blessing in disguise and counts one’s blessings. It’s all a matter of perception.
Is he up to the challenge of defying the very Gods in the heavens? Only Anwar can answer this question.
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