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| The Column |
In her latest column 'Talk of honey and poison', she is obviously taking pot-shots at Anwar.
Some of what she wrote, referring to Anwar
He is no longer lionised at Pakatan events as the next Prime Minister of Malaysia although when pressed, Pakatan leaders still say that, yes, he is still the candidate
Of course Anwar is still the lion in Pakatan. Who else is there who is acceptable as the future prime minster of Malaysia should Pakatan win? Hadi Awang of PAS? Hadi may have his followers, but he won't be the choice of the Chinese and dare I say even to some Malays.
Lim Kit Siang of DAP? The Malays won't be ready at this time to accept a Chinese as the PM.
Nurul, Anwar's daughter? Maybe, but she is till considered too young and inexperienced. Azim Ali, Anwar's deputy? Many would find Azim as unacceptable.
So, there you are. Anwar is still considered as the man acceptable by all. I dare say, that without Anwar, the Pakatan coalition won't hold together for long.
Like what Zaid Ibrahim, the one time de facto law minster in the ruling Barisan coalition said, and Joceline herself quoted
One has to accept that there are not that many choices in Pakatan. It is difficult for DAP whereas PAS is still far from the main stream choice. Given that, I would not disqualify him as the only one who is acceptable. Whatever they say about him, the Opposition still needs him; one has to live with that
There you are. Nobody is not lionising Anwar anymore. Except maybe Joceline and those who fear Anwar's ascendancy.
Joceline further went on to say of Anwar
Anwar's credibility has dropped after a series of controversies. There have been the Sept 16 fiasco, the sodomy trial, the subsequent acquittal that was as controversial as the trial, the sex video and all those old scandals of the past being dredged up
Except perhaps for the Sept 16 mis-step, the sodomy trial and all those sex scandals being dredged up to smear Anwar have only served to strengthen the people's perception of a corrupt and morally bankrupt administration that is hell bent in denting Anwar's image.
Nobody for one moment believes the sex stories about Anwar anymore. They are one too many and getting more and more preposterous without any solid evidence to back them up.
On the Bersih 3.0 rally, Joceline said of Anwar
The outcome of the Bersih rally has dented him as much as it has of Datuk S. Ambiga...It was tragic how the message of fair and clean elections was lost in the chaos. There were scenes of police bashing civilians and civilians attacking the police but none was as dramatic as that of demonstrators smashing up a police car...but the totally wrecked police car has been the single-most damaging image from the rally
Contrary to what Joceline likes to believe, the Berih 3.0 rally has only strengthened further Ambiga's image of a fearless and dedicated leader who cares deeply about the flawed electoral process despite many attempts to demonise her, including the butts and burger protests in front of her house.
As for Anwar's image? Ask any Malaysians (except for those Umno and Barisan flers with vested interests) and they will tell you that they do not think any less of him as a result of the Bersih rally.
As for the message of fair and clean elections of the Bersih rally, it is NOT lost at all.
The rally participants, 250,000 to 300,000 of them, and the rest of the Malaysians too, KNOW CLEARLY WHAT that message IS, chaos or not.
THEY WANT THE MALAYSIAN ELECTORAL ROLL CLEANED UP AND REFORMS PUT IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT ELECTIONS IN THE FUTURE ARE FAIR, FREE AND CLEAN.
The chaos? Malaysians know that a rally that had been peaceful and carnival in nature would not suddenly turn chaotic unless this was instigated and started by agent provocateurs so as to make the rally look bad and to obfuscate the rally's message and at the same time to demonise the organisers and Anwar himself.
As for the overturning of the police vehicle, one must look at the context of how and why it happened. The police vehicle had suspiciously rammed into a crowd. Although a part of the crowd's response is not to be condoned, it was understandable in the circumstance. We must also note that the crowd was shouting to overturn the police vehicle because they believed that someone was trapped underneath it.
You can check out some you tube videos out there.
If that image of the police vehicle became the single-most damaging image from the rally, this is so only because the main stream media and the administration controlled tv stations had given undue prominence to it but had excluded scenes of the authorities bashing up civilians or downplayed them.
What takes the cake must be Joceline's happy reference to an editorial in The Economist that had opined that
Najib emerges from this year's fracas with his reformist credentials intact
Further, to Anwar's challenge to Najib to a debate, Joceline said
But seriously, why would Najib want to debate with Anwar? The Prime Minister does not need a debate to show that he knows his job. After three years in the hot seat, his report card as Prime Minister speaks for itself
Seriously, why shouldn't they debate? Malaysians want to hear what the two have in plan for the country to help them decide whom they want as the PM.
And if indeed Najib has emerged from last year's fracas with his reformist credentials intact and Najib's report card as the PM speaks for itself, why wouldn't Najib call for general election now?
Why is he hemming and hawing after indicating so many times that he would call for GE? Why is he still so gabra (afraid)
But I must agree with Joceline that Najib's report card as PM speaks for itself. Elek (Tamil for nothing)
No, Malaysians do not know what he has done for the country, apart from what Malaysians like to say that he is good at, that is, spouting Campbell alphabet soup of economic plans like the various ETPs.
One final quote from Joceline
The trouble with many Pakatan leaders is that they think that running a government is as easy as talking at a ceramah
Well, the trouble is not that. The trouble is that Umno thinks that only it knows how to run a government, a thinking that is proven manifestly wrong by the Pakatan coalition that has shown that it can run a government better than Umno does.
Just look at the success the DAP has in running the Penang state government, turning Penang from a bankrupt state in 4 short years what the Unmo and its coalition partner Gerakan could not do for over 20 years.
Or at how PKR's Khalid Ibrahim is managing Selangor state.
Both of these states were no only able to attract the highest number of FDIs in the past several years but had also been praised by the Auditor-General for being well managed, something that has not been said by the A-G all these years of the states run by the Barsian coalition of which Umno helms.
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