Is the DPM cornered?

Anwar Ibrahim and DATO SERI NAJIB stand on opposite sides. The former is an ex Deputy Prime Minister. The latter is the present DPM. They meet now in the ring. One of them will be vanquished.

Anwar Ibrahim is a much despised man. He is reviled by many as the quintessential political chameleon. He speaks a different tone depending on the audience. When he is among Chinese voters, he says the 10% proposal to admit non Malays to UITM is small. He didn’t say, it will be done. Therefore all these posturing about admitting non Malays into UITM are just that- empty posturing that will never see the light of day.

But then all UMNO leaders behave that way too. They all speak differently to different people.

Anwar Ibrahim is also an ex DPM of Malaysia. This is a fact nobody can take away. You incarcerate him, he is still an ex DPM.

Our treatment of him, an ex DPM casts a long shadow of ignominy and infamy on us. We do not know how to treat one of us with respect. Yes-yes, we all have heard that no one should be differentiated in law. That’s only true in a theoretical world where man is a mechanical instrument.

In 1998, when Anwar was assaulted by the then IGP and later came forward with a badly bruised face, Malaysia was guilty for that vile treatment on an ex DPM. We recoiled with shame and our hollow sympathy. We hope by acting out we are sorry, the guilt would leave us.

When news about him being accused of sodomy the second broke out, he ran to the Turkish embassy. Every one chided him. They said why run way if you are innocent? We are here to protect you. But Anwar Ibrahim knows the meaning of protection.

Anyone who has received ‘protection’ from the police will do that. Can he seek protection and respect if the boss of the police had assaulted him?

When he was remanded for a day recently, he was forced to sleep on the bare floor. Is this an honourable way in tradition bound society to treat our ex DPM?

Even in war, we honour or enemy. We want to defeat him but never to humiliate him. Now, our deeds past indict all of us.

Yes, he stands on the opposite side of Dato Najib. He stands accused of sodomy, but the whole world opts to disbelieve that accusation.

Meanwhile Dato Najib is our DPM. He enjoys all the trappings of power and prestige associated with the post of DPM. He has resources and men at his disposal. He has served under Anwar before. He was part of the team wawasan led by Anwar to topple Ghafar Baba. The team wawasan was in a hurry to install themselves in position. Najib was riding on Anwar’s coattails at that time.

But Najib can also be a despicable person. He has shown he was an opportunist. He abandoned Tengku Razaleigh at the last minute. He has shown loyalty to his overriding interest. Tengku Razaleigh in many ways was his mentor. When the time came, he betrayed the mentor.

And Dato Najib suffers from credibility problem too. He said he does not know Saiful. He later admitted meeting Saiful because the latter was mentally distressed and became Saiful’s counsellor. Suddenly Najib is our Madam Zorra for mental problems. If he can lie on this small thing, he can be a bigger liar.

He has ‘sumpah’ in front of the UMNO audience. The devil has no qualms of continuing to lie. For he knows god will punish him in the hereafter. The devil chose to defy god in HIS presence. Sumpah is kacang putih. It’s just another walk through the woods for him.

But he now stands on the opposite side. He insists he has nothing to do with Altantuya, but the whole world chooses to disbelieve him.

Hence we have on one side, the whole world believes Anwar INNOCENT and on the other side, the whole world believes Najib is GUILTY.

Perhaps the time has come, all our past misdeeds have now come to haunt us.