COMMENT The sudden removal of Jessica Gurmeet Kaur from the Attorney-General’s Chambers over the leak of the charge sheet against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is another reason why Bersih 4 has to be on.

Since this is a criminal leak, Jessica should be brought to the court so that the truth can be established, but even then, we are told that her contract had merely been terminated. Worse, her permanent residency has been revoked.

Jessica should bring the matter to court and provide all the evidence so that the truth can be established, and justice upheld. Thanks to Sarawak Report’ s Claire Rewcastle Brown, many of us have read the charge sheet ourselves after it was published by the whistleblower website.

At this juncture, all we know is that there was indeed a charge sheet against Najib but before it could be carried out, several Malaysia Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) officers became the targets.

Things are getting out of hand to just protect one person, and it is getting from bad to worse. Pray, only God can save us!

Najib is right in that the government machinery should not try to just serve one man, and if Najib no longer enjoys the support of the majority to lead, he should just step down gracefully or be removed through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

Time for compromise

All the more reason that we need to urge both Barisan Nasional (BN) members of parliament aligned to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan MPs to join forces to push for a no-confidence vote against the prime minister.

Although a fierce critic myself of the former prime minister for his interference into Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration, my stance against Dr Mahathir has indeed softened over the past few months. The grand old man deserves some credit for his relentless efforts to remove the recalcitrant Najib.

It is understandable that Dr Mahathir would still choose to retain the BN government (he was never known to share power with the opposition), but to save Malaysia at least for now, the prime minister has to be one who is accepted by both BN and Pakatan.

Dr Mahathir, too, has to understand the sentiments raised by DAP’s publicist Tony Pua, which also represent the sentiments on the ground as well. Without compromise on both sides, things cannot proceed.

Dr Mahathir, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Gerakan Harapan Baru’s chief Mohamad Sabu should meet together to discuss, and once a decision is made, it should be followed through.

Or else both BN and Pakatan would have failed to see the wishes of the people come true. Removal of the sitting prime minister through Parliament is well within the ambits of the law, and the 20 BN lawmakers who were named by a portal should have the guts to stand up and be counted.

At the moment, no one is interested to know who the old Umno man is, who is trying to garner the support of lawmakers through statutory declarations, as there are apparently more than one Umno veteran who is wanting to remove Najib as prime minister.

A new line-up of cabinet ministers would have to be appointed and picked from those who support the no-confidence vote in order to replace the existing ones and push for reformation.

Those within the BN parties who support the no-confidence vote should be given a chance to be picked as the members of the new cabinet, especially since their leaders failed to stop the rot in the present cabinet, unless of course, those who are still in cabinet now decide to lend their support towards this vote of no-confidence.

Several Pakatan MPs should also be allowed to join the cabinet in order to help (as PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli put it ) to “restore our institution, rule of law, which will eradicate corruption”.

There is only one BN veteran, in my opinion, who fit into that round peg - Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. I hope Ku Li will rise to the occasion.

Rakyat’s urging

The rakyat will will continue to push for a clean and fair election. As former Bersih 2.0 co-chair Ambiga Sreenevasan put it, we have to fix this nation for the sake of the next generation .

I quote the former Bar Council chief: “We need to hand them a nation that is built on the fundamentals of strong institutions, with honest leaders.”

There will always be Umno troublemakers in this country. Petty trader (who is popularly known to own a Ferrari or Lamborghini and his Sekinchan Ikan Bakar) Jamal Mohd Yunos, who urged a protest in front of Ambiga’s house several years ago, is now back on the scene.

If Umno does not discipline the Sungai Besar Umno division chief for his recent act of intimidation by burning an effigy of Bersih chair Maria Chin Abdullah, it will clearly show that Umno is not worth the support of the rakyat, not just because of Najib but the culture has evolved since the Mahathir era after the establishment of Umno Baru.

Once Najib is removed, Dr Mahathir has to be given a chance to right what is wrong, before he leaves this world and meets his Maker. None of us can escape from the day of judgment and there is no turning back; therefore, we should not live as if there is no tomorrow.

As leaders elected by the people, our lawmakers have an obligation to listen to the people’s voice. The people are fully aware of what is happening on the ground.

Sadly, it is the leaders themselves who have become too comfortable and being shielded from the harsh reality faced by Malaysians, especially after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented.

It is time for change, now or never!

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.