It’s called freedom of expression, stupid

Actually, there are a lot of disagreements in Barisan Nasional as well, more than in Pakatan Rakyat. Sometimes the Cabinet meetings are very ‘hot’. But the Barisan Nasional people are not allowed to say anything publicly — except for Umno that is, who is free to say whatever it likes.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Pakatan partners split over conversion issue, said Melissa Loovi of The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/25282-pakatan-partners-split-over-conversion-issue). Yes, reading the headlines gives one the impression that all hell has broken loose in the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat.

If you can see the wood for the trees then maybe you can look beyond your nose. But that is the trouble with Malaysians. They have been indoctrinated by the government-controlled mainstream media for so long that they only see what they are being allowed to see and not what they should see.

There are always two sides to every scenario, just like there are two sides to a coin. I have said this before and I will say this again. Umno and HINDRAF are exactly the same. They are just on opposite sides of the same coin, that’s all. Umno fights for Malay-Muslim rights and HINDRAF fights for Indian-Hindu rights. So, what difference are the two?

If I change my mind am I fickle (wishy-washy or flip-flop) or am I flexible? If I am slow in making a decision am I undecided or am I thorough? If I don’t allow dissent am I firm or am I a despot? If I allow everyone to say his/her piece am I weak or am I democratic? If I fight for my race-religion am I a nationalist patriot or am I a racist pig? If I publish and be damned am I brave or am I irresponsible?

Yes, each scenario can mean different things to different people. What is positive to one person can be negative to another.

Barisan Nasional appears more stable than Pakatan Rakyat because we do not hear contradictory statements from the 14 component members (or 18 of you include the judiciary, Attorney-General’s Chambers, police force and Election Commission as unofficial component members of Barisan Nasional). However, just because you don’t hear a peep does not mean everything is hunky-dory and peachy-rosy. It just means no one dares say anything.

It is not like the non-Umno members of Barisan Nasional did not try to speak out before. It is that whenever they do, they are sacked, suspended, told to go back to India or China, and much more. Some, like the ex-Penang Chief Minister, even had his photograph removed from the wall and shredded to bits. And this is a very senior Barisan Nasional leader mind you. But even he was not allowed to speak.

It has come to a point that no non-Umno Barisan Nasional leader bothers to speak anymore. Even people like the Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah, who is a President of a party and who has since resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister out of protest, had to drag the government to court to get justice.

Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Hadi Awang, Nik Aziz, Anwar Ibrahim, or anyone for that matter, are free to speak and to contradict one another. PKR has been given the Penanti seat to contest. PAS Penang says it also wants to contest that seat. Is there blood on the streets? Is PAS told to leave Pakatan Rakyat?

Assuming Umno wants to contest that seat and Gerakan or MCA or MIC says that it also wants to contest the seat — and that if Umno does not allow them to do so then they are still going to field an independent candidate and turn it into a three- or four-corner contest — can you imagine what will happen? Will Umno keep quiet? Or will the photographs of the Gerakan, MCA or MIC presidents get ripped to shreds? And that is the mild reaction you can expect, mind you. There could even be calls to sack Gerakan, MCA or MIC from Barisan Nasional.

Actually, there are a lot of disagreements in Barisan Nasional as well, more than in Pakatan Rakyat. Sometimes the Cabinet meetings are very ‘hot’. But the Barisan Nasional people are not allowed to say anything publicly — except for Umno that is, who is free to say whatever it likes.

The mainstream media has been instructed to not publish any news about disagreements in Barisan Nasional. In fact, the Barisan Nasional leaders are barred from making public statements and are banned from issuing press releases about their disagreements. They are supposed to give an impression that there is absolute consensus and utter peace and harmony in Barisan Nasional. And even if they do, from time to time, forget themselves and slip up by issuing a public statement, the media will be ordered to not publish it.

Pakatan Rakyat, however, does not ban anyone from making such statements, even if they contradict the party stand. That is why people like Ibrahim Ali (who is after all an independent candidate, only that he contested a PAS seat) and Zulkifli Nordin can make fools of themselves and no action is taken against them. If Ibrahim Ali and Zulkilfi Nordin were in Barisan Nasional they would never dare open their mouths. And if they did they would have been history a long time ago.

So we need to see the wood for the trees. What the government-owned mainstream media is trying to paint as negative is actually positive, and vice versa. Pakatan Rakyat’s so-called ‘chaos’ is a demonstration of democracy at work. And Barisan Nasional’s so-called peace and harmony is a demonstration of how democracy and freedom of opinion in Barisan Nasional have been stifled.

That is how you are supposed to interpret things, not the way the government-controlled mainstream media is trying to suggest.