I refer to the Malaysiakini report Karpal to Anwar: Step down as Pakatan head .

The recent happenings in Perak have brought about much accusation against Anwar Ibrahim and he has been blamed for the ‘frog’ culture in Malaysia. I wanted to abstain from making comments but the call from Karpal Singh asking Anwar to step down served as the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

I am not a politician and definitely not a political analyst but a humble citizen who is craving for a just Malaysia for all races. Since the Perak incident, many politicians from the Barisan Nasional have openly blamed and accused Anwar of cultivating the ‘frog’ culture. To begin with, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon of Gerakan, without naming Anwar, called him the King of Frogs.

A day later, the chief minister of Sarawak censured Anwar for encouraging the ‘frog culture’ in a democratic country. Then Pairin Kitingan hit out saying Anwar was responsible for the 1994 Sabah defections. Well, the list goes on.

One thing that amazed me was, if we were to look into the history of defections in Malaysia, who has actually gained from it? Was it BN or the opposition? It’s clear that BN gained back Sabah from PBS and now has regained Perak through such acts but why isn’t anyone complaining about that?

No one seemed to blame Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the Sabah crisis or Najib Abdul Razak for orchestrating the Perak takeover. To those criticising Anwar, please direct your cannons at Mahathir or Najib for practising the ‘frog’ culture and not on someone who merely speaks of it.

On the one hand, why do BN politicians get so worked up and cry foul about Anwar when all these defections have actually worked towards their advantage? May I ask Pairin – where are you now? Are you in the opposition or back in the ‘loving folds’ of BN?

To the honourable Taib Mahmud – why are you shedding crocodile tears saying the democracy of the country is at stake when in the first place there is no law to prohibiting such jumping and BN has always encouraged it. Your cries only show your fear of your state assembly persons jumping over to Pakatan Rakyat. Your instructions to not allow Pakatan leaders into Sarawak is further proof of your insecurity.

If I were to declare anyone as the ‘King of ‘Frogs’, he/she would have a track record of engineering such actions. As far as I know (tell me if I am wrong), the ‘King of ‘Frogs’ in Malaysia is Mahathir who was instrumental in the downfall of PBS government in 1994 through defections.

It was a democratically-elected state government but as PBS pulled out of BN at the last minute during the state election, PBS became the enemy of BN. Slanderous remarks were made but yet PBS won the state elections. Hardly two months into governing the state, PBS was illegally forced out. Nobody blamed BN then and BN cherished this undemocratic victory.

Today, we see a re-run of the same episode in Perak. The difference is, back then the people of Sabah were silent to the happenings but today the people of Perak have bravely stood up to show their displeasure.

But no BN politician or our great political scientists and analysts have censured BN. With the retirement of Mahathir from politics, the crown should now go to Najib for safeguarding and putting into practice the ‘frogology’ of BN.

As there can be only one ‘King of ‘Frogs’, then the other practicing ‘frogs’ should be called ‘Prince of Frogs’ and we do have one - Ibrahim Ali who sees fit to jump wherever he likes. But Ibrahim Ali is a mixed breed of ‘frog’ and a chameleon as he can change colours for each political platform he embarks upon.

Gerakan has its own ‘froggies’ who almost destabilised the party’s claim to the Penang state government once.

It’s so upsetting to hear BN politicians calling Anwar as a man who ‘lived by the sword and who will die by the sword’ and that he is reaping what he sowed. This is a clear strategy to divert attention away from the real happenings in Perak.

Many questions are hurled at Anwar and Anwar is virtually the punching bag of all politicians in BN. Now we have another ‘boxer’ and he comes right from Pakatan’s own family.

The comments from Karpal have not only tarnished Anwar but the former has given ammunition to BN to further tarnish Pakatan. As a seasoned politician and a learned lawyer, he should know the repercussions of his comments.

Karpal’s outburst in calling Anwar’s resignation can be seen as the ‘height of irresponsible behaviour’ - how Barack Obama would put it. He blames Anwar for the trouble in Perak but he didn’t seem to consider that one the defectors was his own DAP state assembly person.

In fact, DAP’s Hee Yit Foong pinpointed the egoistic behaviour of Perak DAP leaders as reasons to leave. If Karpal is such a principled man, he should take responsibility for the defection of his own lawmaker and the incompetence of his state leaders and lead the way by resigning as DAP chairperson. Will he? I seriously doubt it as this is the hypocrisy of politics in Malaysia.

I am not supporting Anwar but feel disgusted by the remarks of politicians who seem to think that we have pea-sized brains. Anwar is just an ordinary person with an ambition to lead this country towards a better future. It is his ambition and if his ambition will create a better Malaysia, I am all for it.

His Sept 16 deadline to take over the government was a strategic move and he set the deadline to psychologically lure BN politicians into Pakatan.

We all know that Anwar never had the numbers but perhaps it’s a warfare strategy to demoralise our opponents. He made known the need to take over the federal government and had promised to have an election to get a fresh mandate to govern the country. He told the people that if he took over, elections were eminent and if the people wanted back Barisan, they could indicate their choice at the elections.

He was not dangling ‘grasshoppers’ as inducement to these BN ‘frogs’ for he had no access to federal funds or any funds for that matter but he welcomed these ‘frogs’ with open arms for the betterment of the nation. If he had such funds, Sept 16 would have been realised. Now, will Najib call for a elections in Perak? We all know the answer to this.

Just as any citizen, I see some degree of sincerity in Anwar in wanting to give us Malaysians a fair and just government. We want change and if Anwar can do that, I am all for it. If it’s not Anwar and if it is another dynamic individual that comes along with sincerity, I am sure we will support him too.

The whole world is worried about the economic slowdown and Malaysians are dead worried about sustaining their jobs and income. But what we have here is a BN that is so uptight about flexing its muscles in politics while ignoring their most important duty to the nation in facing the economic slowdown.

Anwar is just an ordinary guy who has his shortcomings and this is part and parcel of any human for we are not perfect. He has made irresponsible remarks before but at times I wonder if this was a genuine mistake or another political strategy. But to blame him for every single incident is a mockery to our intelligence.