COMMENT Yesterday I likened Malaysian politics to acid that eats away at personal integrity.

 

Sadly, it seems to display the qualities of rabies as well, the symptoms of which include: anxiety, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, paranoia, terror, hallucinations, and delirium.

 

Nothing is sadder than seeing people with sincere hearts and great ideas eventually dragged down to and sullied by the muddy mire of politics.

 

I remember when Rafizi Ramli first left his career in Petronas and Pharmaniaga to join politics in the aftermath of the opposition’s sudden victory in GE 12.

He writes in his blog of the sacrifice of the youngest man to have ever been appointed a senior manager in Petronas.

 

He worked to gather a group of talented, bright young Malaysians - a group he soon came to be the figurehead of. They represented a new wave of change, and bringing the best of Malaysia to the forefront of the fight for change.

 

What a sight it was - eminently qualified, intelligent people who spoke cogently, were more than ready to leave behind old ideas, old feudalism, and old politics, and who had no lack of fire in their bellies. Arguably, no one more embodied the promise of this group more than Rafizi.

 

Five years later, we find Rafizi speaking at PKR’s annual congress, telling delegates: “If you want to blame Anwar for everything, look for another party”.

 

If you are not with us, you are against us

 

How heartbreaking, to find the man who once was the best representation of a new dawn and meaningful change in Malaysia now repeating the grand logic of George W Bush: If you are not with us, you are against us.

 

If you disagree with our leader, get out? How much more feudal can one get?

 

Rafizi goes on to say that those who disagree with party leaders should contest against them in party polls. “Do not accuse them of nepotism if they are democratically elected,” in his own words.

 

Leaving the many problems of PKR’s elections aside, there is definitely some logic to Rafizi’s statement. Seeing that I disagree with Anwar Ibrahim, perhaps I should contest against him in the PKR polls. Now then, which race should I sign up for again?

 

Oh yes, that’s right, there are no elections for the post of ‘De Facto Leader’. Surely there must be some constitutional provision for this post then? Apparently, no again.

 

Democracy, nepotism and consistency

 

In a search for consistency, we should try to extend Rafizi’s logic about nepotism and being democratically elected.

 

Shahrizat Jalil ( right ) has been elected Umno Women’s Chief since 2009. This means that at the time of the NFC scandal, there is no doubt whatsoever that she is democratically elected. Does that mean we cannot accuse her of nepotism?

 

One must note that the charge of nepotism does not only refer to those who receive the benefits, but those who give them.

 

Coming back to Rafizi’s statement of how those who want to blame Anwar for PKR’s problems should leave the party.

 

To apply that logic consistently, all of us who disagree with Najib Razak or BN’s leadership should get out of Malaysia (and my, wouldn’t they like that).

 

Both Najib and BN have gone through a substantially more democratic (though clearly still flawed) process to get elected as prime minister and the government than Anwar has to become “De Facto Leader”.

 

In pressing this point, Rafizi likens PKR to a warship .

 

He describes the functions on those aboard the PKR ship as being ‘to shoot the enemy’. I think this is a sad indication of how politics is more about destroying political enemies than it is about building a better Malaysia.

 

He stresses that a ship needs to follow the orders of one commander. Fair enough, though that again would mean that we cannot fight Najib in any way.

We cannot forget however the responsibility that comes with authority. If the ship needs to follow one commander, then one commander needs to be responsible for all that happens on the ship. That is what command means.

 

In a twist of some irony, this one ship one captain analogy was exactly the one used by PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat ( left ) in reminding PAS members to follow the leadership of PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang.

 

Clearly, Saari Sungib and Hasnul Baharuddin paid no heed to this analogy, and I doubt Rafizi had anything to say about that.

 

So once again, it appears that Rafizi is saying: it is imperative to follow orders when they suit my purposes; but also, it is imperative to disobey orders when it suits my purposes.

 

Gandhi dynasty - a surprisingly apt analogy

 

Rafizi likened Anwar’s family to that of the Gandhi dynasty in India. This prompted me to do a little bit of reading.

 

The first thing I learnt was that this dynasty is not in any way related to Mohandas (aka Mahatma) Gandhi.

 

If I’m not mistaken, the first person bearing this name to become Prime Minister of India was Indira Gandhi , daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

 

Just way of brief history: In 1975, Indira Gandhi was convicted by an Indian high court of electoral malpractice and using government machinery to secure victory in the parliamentary seat she contested.

 

This High Court decision effectively stripped her of her seat in Parliament and thus, her prime ministership.

 

Gandhi did not abide by this decision however, and instead ordered the arrest of opposition leaders calling for her resignation and eventually declared a state of emergency through which she ruled by decree, instead of through Parliament.

 

She went on to grant police powers to institute curfews as well as detain Indians without trial, and Indian publications were thereafter subject to heavy censorship.

 

Gandhi not only abused her power to remove opposition controlled state governments, she also removed chief ministers from her own party who had independent power bases and replaced them with chief ministers who were personally loyal to her.

 

After this tyranny and extending the state of emergency twice, Gandhi finally called for elections in 1977. Her party lost more than half its seats in Parliament.

 

I don’t think we have space to go into the controversies of the rest of the Gandhi dynasty. I can only say that given the feudalism and current trajectory of the Anwar dynasty, Rafizi’s comparison of that family to the Gandhi family may be one of the few things in his entire congress speech that I agree a little with.

 

Greed and hubris

 

Five years ago, Rafizi burst on the scene, exciting us with his vision, his eloquence and his heart.

 

Last weekend, we find him on the PKR pulpit, raving against disloyal party members, telling those who disagree with his unelected boss to get out, and still clinging with great pride to a 'Move' that has been plagued with inconsistency after inconsistency.

 

What happened?

 

It is not my place to presume what transpires in the hearts of men or women.

We can only hope that whatever happened is not something inherent to politics, and that there are Malaysians out there who can enter this arena without being tangled and poisoned by all the greed, hubris and pride that permeates our political culture.

 

NATHANIEL TAN chooses to hope. He tweets @NatAsasi .

Selangor crisis today

11.50am: Fearing snap polls, DAP reveals that it discussed the possibility of a Pakatan break up in an emergency meeting last night.

2.39pm: Selangor sultan has an audience with Khalid.

3.33pm: PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s office denies that he had offered PKR deputy president Azmin Ali the MB post if Azmin backs a PAS-Umno unity government.

4.42pm: Palace accepts Khalid resignation as MB, pending appointment of a replacement. The ruler also asks for more than two MB nominees each from each Pakatan party.

5.57pm: Selangor PAS says sultan’s decree for multiple candidates in in line with Abdul Hadi’s view.  

10.29pm: PKR and DAP say they will only submit Wan Azizah’s name as in 2013, the palace sought four names and was given only one.