Politics is war without guns and war is politics with guns

War is kill or be killed. And war is politics and politics is war. And, in both, the rules are the same. And the objective is to win at all costs, by hook or by crook. And lawan jadi kawan, kawan jadi lawan, depending on what is needed to win.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is no difference between politics and war. Politics is war without guns and war is politics with guns. And, in both politics and war, your objective is to win — to win at all costs and by hook or by crook.

Novices complain about crossovers, or what they call ‘frogs’. These are people who think they understand politics (or war) and who feel there must be certain rules in politics.

Are there rules in war? If you creep up on your enemy while he is having a berak behind the tree, do you give him time to wipe his bum, pull up his pants, and grab his rifle, before you shoot him?

No! You shoot him while his pants are still down at his ankles and even before he can finish answering the call of nature. Nothing unfair or dishonourable about that. In war it is kill or be killed.

In politics you make deals and choose the best option to win. You use whatever you can, even use people, to win. And if you need to betray or sell out someone to win, you do so.

There is no such thing as friends and enemies in politics. Kawan jadi lawan, lawan jadi kawan, depending on which benefits you the most.

Malaysians are babies. Manja sangat. Always complaining. If you cannot stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Stop complaining. Politics is a game for those with strong stomachs. If you have a weak heart, stop playing politics.

When Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li) opposed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, we supported Semangat 46.

Did we believe in Ku Li or Semangat 46? Of course not. Ku Li is just another Umno man and Semangat 46 is Umno 2.0. But then by supporting Ku Li and Semangat 46 we can weaken Umno. And because of that, PAS won Kelantan in 1990 (and has held the state until today).

An enemy of my enemy is my friend. That’s politics.

When Anwar Ibrahim opposed Mahathir and when he formed PKR and Barisan Alternatif, we supported him for the same reason we supported Ku Li and Semangat 46 — to weaken Umno. But Anwar failed to topple the government.

Then, in 2006, Mahathir made his move to oust Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. So we supported Mahathir for the same reason we supported Ku Li in 1988 and Anwar in 1998 — to weaken Umno.

When Mahathir managed to force Abdullah to step down and hand power to Najib Tun Razak in 2009, we attacked Najib (on the Altantuya Shaariibuu issue), again, to weaken Umno.

Then, in 2015, Najib agreed to an electoral pact with PAS. So, we did a U-turn and supported Najib. Supporting Najib and making sure he does not fall benefits PAS. Umno was no longer our enemy. It was now our friend. We must keep Umno alive so that PAS can benefit.

But Najib’s people sabotaged Umno. The electoral pact that was agreed in 2015 did not happen in the 2018 general election. And Umno paid dearly for this betrayal. Umno lost the 2018 general election for stabbing PAS in the back.

Today, is Umno our friend or our enemy? It all depends on Umno. If there is any benefit to PAS to be friends with Umno, we will consider Umno our friend. If there is more benefit to PAS that Umno dies, then we will consider Umno our enemy.

That’s politics. And if you do not understand this then go away and come back when you grow up. Crossing over is part of politics. Buying over whoever needs to be bought over to get into power is not dishonest, it is clever politics. And changing sides to make sure you win is what politics is all about.

War is kill or be killed. And war is politics and politics is war. And, in both, the rules are the same. And the objective is to win at all costs, by hook or by crook. And lawan jadi kawan, kawan jadi lawan, depending on what is needed to win.