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'What has become of our leaders?'
Published:  Jul 4, 2008 9:08 AM
Updated: 3:56 AM

vox populi big thumbnail ‘Almost everyone in government is tainted with scandal. How can we Malaysians have these kind of people to run the government?’

On Explosive claims linking Najib to Altantuya

JKS: The PM should suspend the inspector-general of police, the attorney-general and relieve the DPM of his duties without firing them, pending investigation.

The allegations made in Balasubramaniam's SD are 10 times more serious and urgent than the sodomy allegation against Anwar. Besides, the suspension of the AG and IGP will allow the investigation into the sodomy allegation (which one now?) to be carried out more independently.

That is also the only way Anwar's allegation about a 10-year-old fabrication of evidence carried out by the now AG and IGP can proceed independently.

EnSin: What has become of our federal government leaders? Almost everyone in government is tainted with scandal. Now with the DPM involved in the Mongolian case, it shows the government is not telling the truth.

How can we Malaysians have these kind of people to run the government? If the DPM is having this kind of scandal, he may one day be subjected to blackmail and by association, the government.

Can we all as Malaysians accept these kind of people to be the leaders of this country? I sincerely hope that everyone in this present government will resign humbly and let Pakatan Rakyat take over - at least they are clean of corruption as far as we know.

At least, now we know why the DPM didn’t dare to challenge his boss.

Lai Hoi Kean: Recent events tell us that there is no institution in our country that we can trust anymore.

Clearly we cannot trust police, the judiciary is clearly manipulated, the AG is clearly biased and the politicians are clear liars.

How come the country has ended up like this?

Kenny Gan: Brave men have come forward. A charismatic opposition leader is on the warpath, creating waves. Malaysia is turmoil, caught in the throes of transition. There's fire coming from the Anwar and Altantuya cases and a political earthquake is about to break.

A power struggle is under way in the ruling party. We may be witnessing the birth pangs of a new political system.

There are two paths forward. One is the collapse of the old power structure and its corruption and abuses. Another is a slide into dictatorship where repression is blatantly used to contain popular sentiment. Whatever happens next, Malaysia will not be the same again.

Yuthaya Surian: I’m sure all Malaysians feel shame regarding the Altantuya murder case. The top guns are liars. There is no justice.

KC Lim: Bala had to buy his own insurance policy for his own health since he knew the ‘truth’. If he keeps the information to himself he will surely be in grave danger and will likely be buried with it.

Now that he has revealed it publicly (though with some retractions) he can sleep peacefully at night as ‘they’ cannot possibly go around and C4 everyone in the country who now already heard about the matter retractions notwithstanding.

Why ? Because there is not enough C4 to complete the job. Smart man Bala, took him quite a while to figure it out that he has to stay alive to tell the tale.

Joe Fernandez: Like in the case of Watergate, the proverbial excreta has hit the ceiling fan in Liwatgate. No more denials, no more lies. Everything is now in the open. Resignations will follow, heads will roll and there will be prosecution after prosecution and long stretches in jail for some people.

Guess this means the transition of power in Malaysia from Abdullah to Najib is off for good. Abdullah must be jumping up and down with joy. But will his joy be short-lived?

Will Anwar, or at least the wife, deliver on their pledge to take the reins of power in Malaysia by Sept 16 (Malaysia Day) or even earlier?

What is Mahathir's take on all this? Is he busy packaging something novel for public consumption if he's not too disoriented by the sudden turn of events?

It's in the human nature to resist change. Change comes but seldom, and when it comes, it's sudden. It is also said that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Adcin: The recent revelations by P Balasubramaniam, Razak Baginda's former PI, is more revealing of Anwar's character than what it claims of Najib's.

If one were to read the statutory declaration in full, we can almost conclude that Anwar had a hand in it. For instance the reference to the deceased Altantuya's 'susceptibility' was a sly dig at Najib and something in all probability Balasubramaniam would not have mentioned if he had written it himself.

The timing of the SD is also too convenient when all this while he had maintained his silence. Can we safely conclude that he had been 'encouraged' by a certain party to write it? And who was it that revealed the SD to the public?

Anwar has been the victim of some dubious accusations himself before but the question to be asked is should he stoop to the level of his enemies?

This is gutter politics and Anwar is showing to us all that he fights dirty too at the expense of all that is decent. To me this latest episode has revealed more about Anwar's naked ambitions and it is not a pretty sight.

Borneo Boy: It is not surprising to see that the press conference given by Anwar yesterday revealing the SD made by Balasubramanian was not even aired in our local news media. How can such serious allegations be deemed not newsworthy?

Whether it is true or not the Rakyat deserve to know that such news exist. Only people with Internet access would have heard of this news.

The rakyat should demand that Najib, the IGP and AG be suspended until a full investigation is completed.

This is a job for an independent royal commission otherwise everything will once again be swept under the carpet.

On 'No' to soldiers on street duty

Aliran Executive Committee: Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan's suggestion that the military could be asked to help the police in maintaining law and order in the country is disturbing.

For one thing, Aliran wonders whether the security of the nation now has become unstable to the point that it warrants military intervention. Or is this merely a tactical move to scare ordinary Malaysians from exercising their right to express their stand in public through, for instance, peaceful demonstrations on the street?

Civilian matters should be handled by the police force in the most professional way possible because as the experience of neighbouring countries has shown, once out of the military barracks, the army may find it difficult to return.

The IGP's remarks may only add fuel to the speculation that given the twists of events in the political sphere, the country may be put under emergency rule.

Rodney1663: Are we going to face a war or are terrorists are undermining the security and peace of the nation that the army now have to patrol the streets?

If anything, we should follow the example of the sacrifice and courage of the Chinese army during the Sichuan earthquake, where we witnessed how the army played the major part in the rescue operations.

We are not using our army for the benefit of Malaysians. In fact, the issue has more been about driving home the fear factor of the army during any peaceful assembly by the rakyat .

Do the leaders care if Malaysians do not have a positive view of the army or the police force? So far (for 50 years), it seems not.

JKS: The PM should also fire Syed Hamid as the Home Minister for allowing his subordinates (the AG and IGP) to run wild and wantonly intimidate the country, opposition, public and investors, with plan to hold a joint army and police exercises this weekend.

In Thailand, which is prone to coups, have they even ever planned such a public collaboration between the army and the police to show their force?

But the PM needs to strike early and gather political support, before he is made into a transitional puppet PM. He may have to reshuffle his cabinet.

In the process, he must seek support from the media, public, the parliament, the Malay rulers, moderate Umno leaders, the opposition parties, judges, and all the business people who had made it rich with the stability of the past 30 years.

He will be surprised by the support he can command. This can be a risky opportunity for the PM to right many things he had not done since 2004.

Garry Khoo: I would like to inform those who intend to attend the rally on Sunday to be very careful if our police get help from the army. I afraid somebody may send someone to the rally to start chaos.

Once there is chaos, the army may declare war. I know the rakyat is going there only to protest the oil price hike but somebody will think it is a golden chance to spoil the organiser’s reputation.

On Ezam accuses Selangor MB's office of power abuse

Jo Dumas: I find it funny that Ezam proclaims he is a shining beacon in the fight against corruption (as he states he will unearth corruption whether it's from the opposition or from Umno), but has decided to pick and choose the cases to ‘unearth’.

He could have chosen from a federal and 13 state administrations that are (were) in power for about 50 years (or about 18,250 days) but he instead decides to ‘investigate’ a state administration that has been in power for little more than a 100 days.

What's even funnier is that he has uncovered a case that seems silly - maybe a mistake of a greenhorn administration - and insignificant when compared to the billions siphoned away by BN politicians for a period of time most definitely longer than 100 days.

If corruption was all he cared about, he should have stayed in Gerak. Maybe he was getting desperate or frustrated with its limited effectiveness.

So to say that he has no political mission to achieve when he joined Umno and when Umno accepted him is patently false.

Raj: While many politicians are trying their best to win the confidence and support of the people, Ezam is completely contradicting in behaviour and action. His latest remarks and actions are nothing but a political attempt to win the trust of the Umno leadership.

In the case of the MB of Selangor, he took action by suspending his assistant. Instead of commending his strictness, Ezam has started accusing the MB for no reason.

Secondly, when a reporter asked him on Anwar's alleged sodomy, he claimed ‘it was no surprise’ because he had his own reasons.

Being one of the very first persons to defend Anwar vigorously back in 1998, now he prefers to create more spin on the latest allegation against Anwar.

It clearly shows he is a real opportunist who can twist and turn his words according to the situation. Probably this could be the reason why Anwar did not favour his stay in PKR.

Ezam is definitely not the man to be trusted and I'm sure Malaysians in general share the same opinion.

GM: I think the above has been somewhat blown out of proportion and I am disappointed that the current state as well as the federal government are wasting so much time and resources over such insignificant causes.

This is just a tip of the iceberg if we consider the rest of the scandals. So I say this to the politicians: Let’s get to work to fix the problems with the country and stop all this mud slinging.

As for the police, I reckon its best for them to focus their resources in protecting the public and not investigating lost causes.

And finally to the media, perhaps you can find something more 'worthy' to report on rather than on speculation on hearsay. Enough is enough I'd say.

On Liow: Umno dragged MCA down in polls

Kaisim: I am the second-generation MCA member and have witnessed time and again the ups and downs of this Chinese organisation for the past fifty years. This time around, MCA has not played its role as a representative of the Chinese in Malaysia.

Umno is always at its throat when it becomes strong and powerful. How do we share power in the government when Umno is not cooperative and suspicious of the Chinese?

I have my doubts that the MCA can change this mindset of Umno. The new leaders must reinvent MCA to take up a reliable position to represent the Chinese and the other minorities.

Get out of BN if necessary and work along with any party/parties who see this country as one for all Malaysians. MCA was late in realising the rakya t’s political force in the last GE.

However, it is better late than never less it may disappear completely in the future.

Nobleman: Liow should not blame Umno for the MCA’s poor outing on March 8. MCA was the one that made no progress due to self-interests way back since Ling took over the helm. The people at large were being misled over and over.

MCA never complained about Umno for the last 50 years. Ling was very happy with his cooperation with Dr M. So what is Liow complaining about today about Umno?

Liow can speak louder today and he has to thank PR for giving him the courage. Before March 8, what he had done for us apart from his MCA-style politics. What issue has he raised to redeem the community’s rights?

Many of us out here are not of below-par intelligence. In my opinion, there are only two guys who have earned my respect in MCA. They are Ong Tee Kiat and Chua Soi Lek.

By the way, please remove Ong Ka Chuan – this guy won his ticket with heavy Umno help.

On Manila meets KL on Sabah deportation plan

Garry Khoo: Hello Manila, whatever difficulties you face, you have to bear in mind the meaning of ‘illegal’. Don't talk nonsense

Please take back your rakyat .We need only legal Philippines rakyat here in Malaysia.

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