Kit Siang: Will Najib emulate Sarkozy?
Published: May 8, 2012 6:30 AM | Updated: May 8, 2012 6:35 AM
Nicolas Sarkozy’s graceful exit as French president has veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang pondering aloud: “Would Najib Abdul Razak do the same?”
In a press release today, Lim said that the burning question is whether Najib is capable of conceding defeat in a gentlemanly fashion.
Or will Najib literally adopt his fiery rhetoric made during his infamous speech during the 61st Umno general assembly in 2010, asked Lim.
“Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya,” said Najib (left) in his speech to cap off the event.
Najib, said Lim, owed Malaysians a clear accounting of whether he would accept the decision of the voters should a change in government happen, in view of the speech in 2010.
“How can Malaysia become the world’s best democracy (as claimed by Najib) when we cannot even qualify the first test of being a normal democratic country - where change of government through the ballot box is accepted as a normal event?” asked Lim.
What worries Lim is that Najib appears paranoid about this possibility based on his “wild, irresponsible and baseless” claims that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup d’état attempt.
“It suggests that Najib has become quite paranoid as even to believe that there could be a coup by a gathering of peaceful Malaysians, although numbering in hundreds of thousands, united by a common cause for clean elections, who are at most armed with salt and water bottles to defend themselves against police tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon,” he said.
Following the second Bersih rally in July last year, Najib was largely credited for adopting a more conciliatory approach, engaging various stakeholders and announcing a slew of reforms.
All this took the back seat on April 28, when the police launched a harsh crackdown on the Bersih 3.0 rally which saw the participation of an estimated 100,000 people.
Najib justified the crackdown by claiming that Bersih 3.0 was part of a coup plot which involved an extended occupation of Dataran Merdeka.
In a press release today, Lim said that the burning question is whether Najib is capable of conceding defeat in a gentlemanly fashion.
Or will Najib literally adopt his fiery rhetoric made during his infamous speech during the 61st Umno general assembly in 2010, asked Lim.
“Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya,” said Najib (left) in his speech to cap off the event.Najib, said Lim, owed Malaysians a clear accounting of whether he would accept the decision of the voters should a change in government happen, in view of the speech in 2010.
“How can Malaysia become the world’s best democracy (as claimed by Najib) when we cannot even qualify the first test of being a normal democratic country - where change of government through the ballot box is accepted as a normal event?” asked Lim.
What worries Lim is that Najib appears paranoid about this possibility based on his “wild, irresponsible and baseless” claims that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup d’état attempt.
“It suggests that Najib has become quite paranoid as even to believe that there could be a coup by a gathering of peaceful Malaysians, although numbering in hundreds of thousands, united by a common cause for clean elections, who are at most armed with salt and water bottles to defend themselves against police tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon,” he said.
Following the second Bersih rally in July last year, Najib was largely credited for adopting a more conciliatory approach, engaging various stakeholders and announcing a slew of reforms.
All this took the back seat on April 28, when the police launched a harsh crackdown on the Bersih 3.0 rally which saw the participation of an estimated 100,000 people.
Najib justified the crackdown by claiming that Bersih 3.0 was part of a coup plot which involved an extended occupation of Dataran Merdeka.
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