With all that it has going against it, especially the glaring mistakes made by an unprofessional Registrar of Societies, Parti Keadilan Rakyat or PKR certainly deserves some leeway.
If the Home Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein can give leeway to Utusan Malaysia for telling lies, then why not to PKR for something that it didn't even do?
Bu then we are now in an age of might is right politics, where wth a wave of the wand Prime Minister Najib Razak can turn black into white and vice-versa.
Such is the sad state of affairs now in Malaysia, and Talent Corp is wondering why no one smart wants to come back to beautiful beaches, wonderful food and friendly people. It has forgotten the weakest link - bad government. Yes, Malaysia is haunted by a bad government.
The plot
If the PKR news flew by under your radar, than bear with a short recap of the latest stone thrown at the party's way.
A letter sent by Registrar Abdul Rahman Othman on May 9 alleged that PKR had “wilfully violated Clause 32.2.1 of the party constitution by sacking Rajagopal A/L Andaikkalam on April 1, 2009 and April 27, 2009 without first being investigated and heard by the disciplinary board”.
And because of that, the RoS plans to deregister PKR by June 9, based on Section 13 (2) of the Societies Act. Unless, of course, PKR can give a satisfactory explanation. The question is, what would 'satisfactory' be to a malicious RoS?
Even so, despite the RoS threat sounding all serious and pompously grim, the joke is the clause does not even exist within the party's constitution. All those accusations that Malaysia is run by a pack of fools and clowns are starting to seem right.
According to PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, Clause 32 has no subsections and does not even pertain to disciplinary procedures.
This is not the first time a political party has been deregistered by the RoS in Malaysia.
UMNO was deregistered in 1988 which prompted the registration of UMNO Baru though the “Baru” was dropped a short while later.
Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) was deregistered in 2004, which led to the formation of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
Yet in both cases above, the reasons for deregistration was due to internal conflicts pertaining to who should lead the party. These are serious grounds for deregistration. How can a political party take part in nation building when within its own house, there is no clear leader. Thus, there is logical and firm ground for deregistration there.
But what are the grounds for deregistration of PKR?
GE-13 and the loss of morality
Beyond flimsy and wrong allegations centred around a non-existing clause, there are none. We next have to ask why wait 2 years to smack PKR in the face. Has it got to do with national polls?
Was the RoS inspired by the 13th General Elections that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin a day ago admitted would be the toughest ever for the BN. Muhyiddin even conceded that BN may not even retain power.
Again, the entire RoS episode reeks of the same manipulative and dirty politics that have come to typify the Najib administration since it lunged for the Perak state government in 2009 and pushed the judiciary into legalizing its power grab.
Things deteriorated from there. Loss of morality snowballs easily and it has opens the floodgates. Criticism, speculation and negative-thinking now dog Najib’s administration and his inability to control things have made his advisers desperate.
Hence, when all else fails, de-register PKR, the party of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, the lynchpin for Pakatan Rakyat.
It is clear Najib Razak has lost control of his government. It is now a broken administration so caught up in ridding themselves of their political enemies that even basic logic is thrown out of the window. And might is used to clear the way through.
How long will Malaysians put up with it, or does Najib believe that after a while, the people will forgive and forget and finally, praise him to the skies for his greatness of vision and derring-do.
Gauging by the current mood, perhaps Najib will have to dream on.
He who lives by the Sword, dies by the Sword
Then there is another virulent school of thought, again from Umno, which seems to be a never-ending source for such Machiavellian plots.
Can it be that all the bumbling and fumbling by the administration is in fact nothing more than a convenient means to show up a flip-flopping and incompetent Prime Minister?
In targeting PKR in such an underhanded and vile way, the dark powers in Umno may be trying to clear a path for new leaders to climb up the rung. Maybe all the way to Najib's position.
Yes, Najib's enemies within Umno itself is growing and they are busily unleashing plots of their own to show and trip him up. Each day, he grows weaker, the more enemies in Umno show their hand. As the saying goes, one sows what one reaps.
How the chips will finally fall remains to be seen. What is clear though is that, he who lies by the Sword dies by the Sword. It is an ancient adage packed with wisdom that Najib should take to heart with all humitlity and grace.
