Thursday 7 May 2009

Perak: BN Seeking "Pariah-dom"?

"May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Thompson, Mark. and Kuntz, Philipp. "To Steal or not to Steal: Authoritarian Regime Behavior after Electoral Defeat" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Sep 02, 2004

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Abstract: The terrain that authoritarian regimes enter after electoral defeats has been roughly surveyed but not yet well mapped.We show that there are other outcomes than the two options of stealing an election and retaining office or accepting defeat and surrendering power. There is also the possibility of regimes stealing elections but losing power after failing to effectively repress popular protest...... Limited polls have been stolen nonetheless because autocrats estimated the costs in acknowledging defeat - a loss of reputation or the creation of “oppositional islands” - as too high.

From Malaysiakini:
2.41pm:
Several uniformed police personnel grab hold of Sivakumar and forcibly remove him from the speaker's chair. He was then dragged out of the House by a group of plainclothes personnel wearing tags which read 'official'.

Sivakumar resists and shouts, "I am the legal speaker. Why am I being treated like this?"
It cannot be ascertained if these were police personnel.
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Quoted above is the abstract of a paper which I posted here under the title Crouching Monkey, Wounded Tiger (I of III) on the matter of "election/power stealing" phenomenon in many third-world states. Read also in the same post, papers which made Malaysia a case study of "third-world" regimes in the same league as Egypt. With the Perak fiasco, the Umno/ BN regime has once again shown its primitive attitude, and vindicated the "western intellectuals/media" it is so prone to demonize.

It is a sad day for Democracy in Malaysia.
Today, without formally convening of the assembly, a new speaker was installed despite having the motion rejected by the legitimate speaker. They have used brute force, and not the law/Constitution to remove the Speaker from his seat.

As I had mentioned during the aftermath of the 080308 tsunami - the aristocracy has inevitably expressed their contempt for the rule of law and democracy, and have unleashed their vengeance - and their anger has by no means been cooled. There's more to come, and the PR would best be on guard.
It was something I expected about six to eight months down the line. However, that it had taken this long is probably evidence of the problems faced among the elements of the ruling elite in theBN/ Umno regime. The Barisan Nasional Government has shown that it does not care for anything other than the Power to rule.
The electorate are robbed of their legitimate rights.
The Federal Constitution is "Dead".
The State Constitution is "Dead".
The Judiciary is "Dead".
Rule of Law is "Dead".
The "PDRM" is "Dead".
Democracy is "Dead".

Only the Army remains (a scary thought, but does it actually still remain?) ......
The rest have all been emasculated, and "Kuganized" - and illegitimate bodies led by thugs have usurped their powers to install goons or puppets in their place.
Save in a few states under the Pakatan Rakyat governments, Malaysia is fast descending into lawlessness - enforced by pirates who have installed themselves into the seat of power. Malaysia will soon be officially declared a "pariah state" with a pariah institutions of state - which has interestingly been official.

I will not pretend that this was something which was unexpected any more than that pirates wouldn't take losses without playing dirty. However, to the PR - this is also a test of their allegiance to the head of state. I'm certain that all PR leaders knew this as well. It is just that they have displayed much restraint so as not to provoke "civil strife" - which is exactly what the pirates want.
They are looking for an excuse to trigger violence of some sort, and didn't get it. It is for this reason that DSAI was not to be seen anywhere near the venue of the confrontation.

Maybe patience would be the order of the day as HRH Sultan Azlan Shah quoted from the Quran,
O you who believe! seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient. (The Cow 2.153 )”.

What we have seen is actually a mortally wounded animal unleashing its fury with all its might in its throes of death.
Let it be known that this is just the beginning.
It is the beginning of the end of Umno/ BN - and there will be more injustice heaped upon the people before it dies.

No power can survive without the media. With the MSM media which has been widely discredited for spinning lies, this BN/ Umno regime will not last long - maybe not even 5 yrs.
They have lost the propaganda war, and now it is just a matter of time before this illegitimate government falls. They have just signed their death warrant - and it will be a slow and painful death ..... with their eyes wide open.

Malaysia is today not just a "Police State", but also what Noam Chomsky would call a "death squad democracy" which is ripe for economic colonization, after the plunder by the pirates we've had thus far.
The only question now is, if the army will sooner or later "intervene" to keep the country in one piece .......