A number of days ago MGG Pillai wrote an article arguing for immunity for the prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for, basically, abuse of power ([#1] Mahathir deserves immunity [/#], April 2). He concludes that we Malaysians would be mortgaging our national self-respect if we were to hold Mahathir accountable for his misdeeds.

Now, either the writer is an overly nice guy and really believes what he opined, or he is playing mind games.

A major argument he advances for immunity for Mahathir is that "what happened in Malaysia is one we are all party to".

My question is this: Does the writer really believe that the ordinary man in the street in Malaysia is capable of stopping Mahathir in his tracks?

This seems to me an overly naive assessment of the state of democracy in Malaysia. One good thing about ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's current plight is that it has provided a focus for the ordinary Malaysian citizen, enabling them to see in a better resolved manner the unsavoury things that have been going on in Malaysia.

However, it still is difficult for the person-in-the-street, or even for many people-in-the-street to effect changes in Mahathir's ways. How many would be willing to undergo an arrest under the Internal Security Act (ISA)?

It is not that Malaysians have been apathetic in the past, as the writer implies. The machinery that Dr Mahathir's government has assembled to quell and punish dissenters is intimidating: the police, the judiciary, and conveniently preserved colonial legislation.

The possible consequences can be rather tragic for the dissenting individuals and their families when the climate is not right, when there are not enough other dissenting voices to lend dissent a critical mass.

The persecution of Anwar has, comically unforeseen by Dr Mahathir, become a catalyst to the spread of dissent and he is clearly alarmed that this might reach a critical level. He can only directly reach the leaders of dissent through the ISA, and perhaps he can intimidate the others through police brutality.

It would be laughable for him to deal with the thousands of reformasi demonstrators with the ISA, but I would bet my last sen he would love to do just that, if only he can still get away with it. I guess even he recognises that it would be a bad tactical error.

Whether or not Mahathir is accorded immunity might fairly be considered a legal issue. There is, however, certainly no question that immunity would be a miscarriage of justice.

How can it not be if the government machinery has been used to effect personal goals for the sycophantic few, at the expense of pain, misery and continued ignorance for the many?

Since when has the pursuit of justice been unrespectable?

I wonder if the writer's goal in writing his article is to help provoke sentiments for the undeniably correct choice in this matter. If that is the case, then syabas to him.