"Demo Bukan Budaya Kita" - 2 Years Later

DEMO BUKAN BUDAYA KITA: DR M

KUALA LUMPUR: Pembangkang, yang hilang kuasa mentadbir kerajaan Perak, perlu sedar demonstrasi jalanan bukan budaya Malaysia dan menunjuk kekuatan seperti ini boleh berlaku erhadap mereka pada masa depan, kata Mahathir Mohamad.

"Ia (demonstrasi jalanan) bukan budaya kita. Bagaimana anda hendak membentuk sebuah kerajaan dengan bertindak di jalan raya. Jika mereka (pembangkang) sendiri menggalakkan demonstrasi jalanan, macam mana pula mereka hendak mentadbir negeri.

"Jika anda bertindak di jalan raya setiap kali ada masalah, maka jika dan bila anda membentuk kerajaan, orang lain akan melakukan yang sama," katanya kepada pemberita selepas demonstrasi teknologi SmartPool di the Mines Waterfront Business Park, di sini, semalam.

Dr Mahathir diminta mengulas demonstrasi jalanan oleh penyokong Pakatan Rakyat ketika upacara mengangkat sumpah Menteri Besar Perak yang baru kira-kira satu kilometer dari Istana Kuala Kangsar kelmarin.

Kerajaan PR yang belum berusia setahun tumbang selepas empat anggota dewan undangannya melompat ke Barisan Nasional (BN).

Dr Mahathir berkata "tindakan melompat" itu seharusnya mengakibatkan pembubaran dewan undangan negeri (DUN) tetapi oleh kerana Sultan Azlan Shah mengisytiharkan tidak perlu diadakan pilihan raya, keputusan itu harus dihormati.

Katanya, Menteri Besar pembangkang harus dibenarkan memanggil mesyuarat DUN dan undi tidak percaya perlu diluluskan terhadap kerajaan berkenaan.

"Tetapi jika Menteri Besar tidak mahu mengadakan sidang DUN, jadi bagaimana kita boleh paksa beliau berbuat demikian. Undang-undang menyatakan undi tidak percaya mesti diluluskan sebelum ada pertukaran kerajaan.

"Sekalipun mereka terus memerintah negeri itu, mereka bertindak sebagai kerajaan minoriti. Bagaimana kerajaan minoriti hendak mentadbir negeri, bila ia tidak punya sokongan," katanya.

Mengenai laporan bahawa pembangkang bercadang mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Sultan berhubung keputusannya, Dr Mahathir berkata walaupun tindakan pembangkang itu tidak beretika, undang-undang membolehkan tindakan itu diambil.

Bagaimanapun, Ketua Umum PR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim semalam berkata, pihaknya tidak akan memfail saman terhadap Sultan.

- Berita Harian - 8 February 2009

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Today I will not talk much except to bring back something for everyone of us to go through and compare to the current situation, 2 years after the report was first published. True, I am pretty exhausted after work in office and treating myself to watching a movie to have some fun.

This week marks exactly 2 years of when Dr. Mahathir made that statement above that "demonstration" is not our culture" in the wake of the fall of the Pakatan Perak Government 2 days before on 5th February 2009. There have been plenty of demonstrations in the last 4 years, tracing back to the Lawyer's march in Putrajaya in August 2007 in the wake of the Lingam tape leak, then going on with the Bersih rally in November 2007 and the Hindraf rally three weeks later.

Those three demos got the ball rolling and in other words proved to Malaysia that anyone can gather for a common cause. However, do note that demonstrations usually happen primarily because of whatever grievances aired via official channels were mostly ignored and turned away by the government that we have entrusted our vote with in the elections.

The Perak coup de tat was the lowest point of all because the sultan had ignored the Perakians vote and choice of the government and instead UMNO and Barisan had taken over via the backdoor route, a.l.a. Katak frogging that Anwar Ibrahim spoke of about the never happened 916 promise. And still, there happen to be more demos in the subsequent times after the low point including anti-GST tax rallies, anti-ISA rallies, and so forth.

Why does it happen? It's primarily that people's wishes were ignored in favor of political power and survival. If the majority of people say no to ISA for example, the government must immediately throw it off, not to amend, not to keep it because the boss said so. Demonstrations happened usually as the last resort when everything was turned away and people - like an infant - cry for attention when there is no one else to turn to.

There are more than a dozen of demos around Malaysia after Dr. Mahathir's statement. This means, that in other words, that no one give a hoot on Dr. M's statement. And it also reveals that in this situation, Dr. M has misjudged himself as well as getting too much than what he can chew on. Maybe his statement could be irrelevant already, if we take the domino factor from Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan as well.