The Agong is not BN's pawn

As if Barisan Nasional hadn’t done the nation enough damage by corrupting and co-opting civil institutions like the police, judiciary and press, now it has apparently decided to involve the Agong in its sordid political game.

The speech that the BN government gave Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to read at the opening of the third session of the 12th parliament on Monday was a flagrant abuse of the constitutional monarchy that Malaysia is supposed to be.

The Agong is the symbolic and ceremonial ruler of all Malaysians, not some party-political pawn or puppet. And when he ritually addresses Parliament, his role, like that of his senior colleague in the UK - Queen Elizabeth - is to outline the government’s legislative programme, not sing its partisan praises or criticise its opponents.

So putting false words in the monarch’s mouth accusing the “new media” of “slander, lies and distortion of facts” and then lauding the prime minister’s ‘achievements’ is a breach of both protocol and the constitution. And an absolute insult to the Agong himself and all his loyal subjects.

Everyone including the Agong must be aware by now that “slander, lies and distortion of facts”, while by no means entirely absent from the ‘new media’, are actually the long-time specialty of the BN-owned or controlled ‘old media’.

Of course Tuanku Mizan didn’t specify examples of the ‘new media’ abuses he actually had in mind. And we don’t know what he was thinking to himself as he read the weasel words the BN regime wrote for him.

Maybe the ‘new media’ he was privately thinking of were the slanderous, lying and distorting mainstream media websites and BN ‘cybertrooper’ blogs, or even Najib Abdul Razak’s own fakery on Facebook .

And, ‘new media’ or otherwise, he could hardly have avoided thoughts of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia when he read the passage stating that “freedom of speech is not an excuse for any party to demean others to the extent of inflaming conflict and inciting racial sentiments”.

He may also well have been thinking, as I have been since I saw Bernama-quoted excerpts from his parliamentary address, that it was a pity he couldn’t elaborate at length on some of the points he was given to touch on.

For example, when he read that “all parties involved must realise that no religion condones such actions”, I wonder whether he had further thoughts along similar lines.

Like the pretty obvious one that, if no religion condones slander, lies and distortion of facts in any media, old, new or otherwise, surely no religion condones many of the countless other evils that his subjects suffer under BN misrule.

Rampant corruption, for example. And the illicit politicising of institutions ranging from the police force and judiciary on up to the legislature and, as we have witnessed in the Perak sultan’s dismissal of his state’s elected government and the Agong’s own BN-scripted speech, royalty itself.

What was not said

It may also have occurred to the Agong that other features of BN’s Malaysia that no religion on earth could condone are all the suspicious deaths in police and MACC custody, and systematic failure to properly investigate these and other crimes by government agencies, members and cronies.

But the Agong was given little time and opportunity for such ruminations, as his speech quickly turned his attention to the task of praising Najib.

At least it appeared to be intended as praise: “All leaders should emulate the prime minister’s walkabout approach in getting closer to the people to better understand their problems and foster (a) close relationship with the people from all walks of life.”

But wait. Was the Agong secretly thinking, as I am, that all this talk about walking could just as easily be interpreted to mean that Najib is a truly pedestrian prime minister?

Similarly, could Tuanku Mizan’s lauding of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept and government transformation programme as “bold” steps be seen as a sarcastic way of his speaking the truth, which is that Najib has been timorous in the extreme in instituting any ‘reforms’ whatever, including the Goods and Services Tax?

As for the next bit about the global economic recession being a “blessing in disguise” that has “motivated us to optimise our resources and opportunities in order to overcome difficulties,” I imagine the Agong had no more idea what that meant than you or I do. But like us he surely would have noted that there was no mention of the shocking amount of capital flight that Malaysia’s economy has recently suffered.

But never mind, there was still good news last year, the speech continued, for those receiving financial assistance from the government: “The RM24.5 billion spent in subsidies last year have not only benefited the low-income group, but also high-income earners and foreigners.”

A cynic might suggest that the curious fact that subsidies also benefited high-income earners goes a long way towards explaining why the Agong, for whom I understand a splendid and expensive new palace is under construction, saw his way clear to deliver this speech on behalf of Najib’s BN.

As grateful for the government’s generosity with subsidies as he may be, surely Tuanku Mizan must be as aware of Malaysia’s massive brain-drain and the dire state of the education system as he is of media slander, lies and distortion.

So he must have found it especially challenging to read his next few lines: “holistic development of human capital will include a comprehensive consolidation of our education system to ensure that every individual is given the opportunity to demonstrate one’s fullest potential and talent”.

What a shocking waste of the head of state’s time and talent it was to get him along to read out such mendacious, mealy-mouthed claptrap.

It’s high time BN realised that Agong isn’t supposed to be a pawn of the propaganda machine for their crooked regime, but the supreme protector of the people and their rights.

And that the people aren’t just a bunch of ignorant peasants and proles to be lorded-over and lied to, but both the masters of whichever government they elect to office, and the ultimate power behind the throne.