A third force is needed to clean up the political mess and bring the country back to sanity. It is clear that the current bickering has damaged the body politics and made governing difficult.

This third force must be made up of men and women who are clean, upright and brave. They must be of impeccable character. They must not be from or allied to any of the existing parties – be it the ruling power or the opposition..

The new leaders must have no political experience but only be armed with formidable intelligence and moral authority to serve the country without fear or favour.

Once in power, they must act immediately to right all the wrongs committed by the previous rulers in a manner that will win public confidence and trust.

The person chosen to lead the third political force must truly be a leader of all Malaysians. He must act according to the wishes of the people and not be swayed by any wolf in sheep’s clothing or the bigoted politics of detractors.

At present, it is difficult to ferret out the truth amid the outpouring of anger and accusations, with both sides claiming that god is with them. All are making a pitch for the rule of law and desperately want the common citizens to believe in their innocence.

In this climate of uncertainty, there are dark hints of using crude state power to crush any incipient popular dissent.

How do we get to the truth? By supporting the third force. Only a third political entity can uncover the truth and expose the dirt buried in layers of sanitised news.

The third force has one distinct advantage: it can vet every file and document to build a case against anyone without fear of interference. It can go further — it can place all the suspects under house arrest until their names are cleared.

When a case is solidly built against whoever is in the wrong, he or she must face the full might of the law. If found guilty, the harshest punishment must be meted out. If it is a capital crime, the hangman’s noose must not be spared.

Only a third force in power can bring about this drastic change for the better. Only this new political power can cleanse the country of the myriad ills and help it regain its health and strength.

And when soldiers are ordered out of their barracks to beat down on civilians, they are not defending freedom or promoting peace. They are merely exercising brutal force to keep a government in power.

Rulers will always resort to guns and bullets on the pretext that national security is in danger of being undermined by people who take their protest to the streets. They cannot or refuse to accept that street protest is one aspect of a citizen’s right to express displeasure over the conduct of a government.

Everyone wants peace. No one wants to live in a climate of fear. But it has become a common practice of governments everywhere to argue for peace through the language of threats. They use force or threats of force to keep the peace.

But when people want to articulate their views on various domestic issues that are making life miserable, they cannot be deemed enemies of the state.

In a majority of cases, citizens in all countries cast their ballots for one incontrovertible purpose, and that is to elect a government that will protect life and liberty.

Unfortunately, a government long in power tends to disregard the voice of the people and rewrite a different script that emphasises the use of raw power to suppress dissent. Invariably, the state will bring out the guns to replace the rule of law.

Guns have their purpose but when they are used without rhyme or reason, they are detested and will be opposed. People do not fear people when people are fighting for the people. People fear people when the state creates fear of the people.

Guns are good to battle external enemies. They are useless when trained on the people. When dealing with domestic troubles, the peace sign is a powerful symbol of hope. Roses are better than guns.