YOURSAY 'Given that MCLM is now in limbo, my suggestion is for all of you to focus and get behind Anwar - warts and all.'

MCLM chief quits in a huff over RPK interview

Inspektor Klueso: It's indeed heartening to see the existence of people like Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) former president Haris Ibrahim who have the integrity and character to stand behind the principles of throwing out the scoundrels who have raped, plundered, murdered, pillaged and shamed this once pristine nation for so long.

RPK (Raja Petra Kamarudin), you are nothing but an expired windbag now. Enjoy your millions. I suppose it was never in your DNA to go the distance. By the way, I belonged to the four million of those that "count".

Unspin: Haris, I salute your decision to stand by your principles. The silver lining is that RPK showed his ugly hands before more damage was done.

Assuming that MCLM is successful in winning some parliamentary seats in GE13, imagine the mess if you have to fight RPK, who would be likely to offer the seats to the highest bidder.

Given that MCLM is now in limbo, my suggestion is for all of you to focus and get behind Anwar - warts and all - because he is the glue that holds Pakatan Rakyat together and remains our best hope to bring about a regime change. (By the way, I am not a fan of Anwar.)

Swipenter: So far RPK has never offer anyone who he thinks is capable of leading Pakatan except trying to stir discord within the opposition coalition and also within each of the three partners with his stinging criticisms.

Outside of Pakatan, he tried that with his "third force" strategy. Maybe he is broke, maybe he is blackmailed or maybe he has a change of heart or maybe this is all to do what he has been doing for quite sometime. That is not important anymore.

But voters, please remember our goal. Pakatan is bigger than any one person and what we want is to replace the totally corrupt and racist Umno-led government with one that is transparent, fair, equal, responsible and accountable to us and adhere to the rule of law.

Pakatan can and will thrive without Anwar or RPK on its side. That goal is in the hands of the voters; not Anwar or RPK. If Anwar is going to jail, it is not the end of Pakatan.

Clever Voter: Not many politicians in this country stand on principles. Many can literally be bought over - RPK is one example. It's a delight to know Haris is a rare example of an individual who stands on strong principles. We applaud that.

Dood: These sudden turn of events with regard to RPK's unexpected interviews are shameful and shocking. I believe Haris Ibrahim is one of the few figures in the civil society that I can say I trust 100 percent.

Although RPK has a long history of fighting against Umno-BN, his recent actions bring into question his motives, objectives and perhaps even his sanity. What does he aim to prove? Does he realise the damage he has done and continue to do?

He may think he is right, and in some respects he is, but he should also realise that these are special times. Umno-BN is a vile enemy that must be ousted for the sake of the people. You don't just slam the alternative just because they are not your ideal people.

Yes, they are not perfect, but they are far better than Umno-BN. As they say, Rome was not built in a day. Yet slowly but surely, we can rebuild Malaysia bit by bit by moving in the right direction.

I will continue to support Haris in his future undertakings, and hopefully we can still able to bring change to Malaysia.

To give an analogous situation to RPK's actions, it is like telling citizens of a country ruled by a despotic dictator that you shouldn't bother with democracy because it's flawed.

Yes, democracy is flawed, but it's a step up from dictatorship. Similarly, Pakatan, PKR and Anwar may all be flawed, but that doesn't mean we should reject them and retain Umno-BN.

Ferdtan: We, the armchair critics, are branded by RPK to be inconsequential. He said that he would not be bother to listen to us. It is as if we cannot discern what is right and wrong.

We are not the type of pro-opposition people who RPK mocked as brainless followers fighting against Umno. To him everyone is wrong, only he is right.

Now MCLM chief Haris, not only distanced himself from his chairman, but also resigned as president of the movement. Like we say - we take a leader at its face value: we are not judgmental; unlike RPK saying such non-substantiated thing as 90 percent sure that Anwar is 'gay'.

Anyone, even Anwar or any top Pakatan leaders, who at any moment, betrayed the cause of the fight against Umno to create a two-party system, will have hell from us - like what RPK is having now.

Cinaputra: If you read RPK's blog postings you can see there was a run-up to his bombshell betrayal of PKR and, by association, Pakatan. This had its beginning during the TV3 interview, or perhaps earlier.

Haris, I can empathise with you and even feel the hurt that you must be undergoing. The course of the cause however must be maintained come what may, and we may even come out stronger after all this.

RPK will be shunned by all those he betrayed and if he thinks he can ride this out, he can't be more wrong. It's worse than solitary confinement and a couple of years down the road, you will find a broken man devoid of any self-respect.

He made this bed and now he has to lie on it. Pathetic sod.

Not Confused: Like the majority of responsible commentators here, I support Haris Ibrahim's stand and decision to quit.

RPK has turned into an arrogant narcissist who appears to have lost the plot and turned traitor. He says he expected some flack - and he's certainly got it.

However, as he says, he care nothing for the opinions of those that fall into his self-styled categories. If that is not arrogance, then I don't know what is.

I did not attend the Bersih rallies, but I have as much right to an opinion and to voice it. If he chooses to dismiss me as being irrelevant, well, that's his loss, not mine.

Nik V: Well done, Haris. Many of us are proud that you can move pass personalities, even bigger than life characters like RPK.

We need to realise that our love for a free and civil Malaysia has to be bigger than personalities such as Anwar, Nik Aziz Nik Mat or Lim Kit Siang.

It has to be our love for rebuilding our great nation without pilfering and racially-based thieves from Umno-BN. So while we need charismatic opposition leaders, we should first vote for anything that is not Umno-BN.

As foolish as this sounds, if Pakatan fails in power, then it's up to the voters to vote BN back in GE14.

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