COMMENT As I write, the violent events in Libya are coming to a head, as an unreconstructed strongman, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, looks grimly at the inevitable end of his rule. Another despot is counting the days remaining of his political life, just like other dictators in much of the Arab world.

The people’s revolt against dictators, sweeping across much of the Arab heartland, has come as a surprise. The disintegration of Libya comes with a heavy price in lives and blood, as Gaddafi continues to hang onto power, even though his tenuous hold on his country is slipping.

NONEAs of now, Gaddafi can lay claim to the services of only about 5,000 troops who are loyal to him personally. Unless he can kill off all the rebels, the end of Gaddafi is within sight. Only a rump force of armed men still do his bidding, at gunpoint, in Tripoli. The rest of the country has rebelled against his rule, in one region after another.

Gaddafi’s enormous oil wealth cannot save him now, as the whole world awaits the final collapse of his power.

Many of Gaddafi's own senior officials are rebelling against him. Legions of his own troops have also decided to switch sides in support of the revolution. The domino effect of desertion by Gaddafi’s forces is making his regime's demise into an inescapable phenomenon.

Despite the great temptation for us to call for foreign intervention to resolve the internal crisis in Libya, I support the American decision to take no further action than to impose economic sanctions and no-fly-zones and to freeze the Libyan dictator's assets.

Libyan's trouble with Gaddafi is a Libyan problem and must be resolved, peacefully we hope, by the Libyans themselves.

The cruelty of the Gaddafi’s regime is more than evident for the whole world to see, as Gaddafi is ordering his planes to bomb his fellow citizens in cold blood. This action alone is enough to convict Gaddafi of crimes against humanity, for which he and his sons must be held personally responsible.

We in Malaysia and the rest of mankind must express our support and our solidarity with the oppressed people of Libya. Any cruelty and inhumanity dealt out to any members of the human race brings shame and injury to everybody else. This applies to the people of Libya also.

We should support the Libyans in spirit, because all they ask for is to be treated with respect and dignity by their government, a regime who has victimised them, repressed them and robbed them for four decades.

Gaddafi's oil wealth of billions has gone into the pockets of the dictator’s wife, children, relatives and his close officials of the regime, while millions remain poor.

International bodies must now freeze the Gaddafi family's assets overseas and repatriate them to the Libyan people in the long run.

Greed for money and power

The lesson from Tripoli is clear. Political power does not come from the barrel of a gun. Those exercising such awesome political power, anywhere in the world, must legitimise that power with policies which can benefit the people collectively.

The temptation of using political power for self-enrichment is tempting for anybody who wields the power of life and death over an entire people. Greed for money and power is still the root of all evil in Tripoli, as well as in Malaysia.

Fortunately in Malaysia, we have the mechanism to change our government through peaceful means, through voting, even though much injustice is left uncorrected, thanks to our unsatisfactory voting laws.

But as long as the framework of democracy remains in Malaysia, we can change the government of the day through the ballot box, and we do not have to resort to violence and bloody revolution as in the Arab world.

Down with Colonel Gaddafi, and the sooner the better. Not only for the people of Libya but for the whole world at large.

 

SIM KWANG YANG was member of parliament for Bandar Kuching, Sarawak from 1982 to 1995. He can be reached at sky8hornbill@gmail.com. All comments are welcomed.