Greetings and Good Wishes for a superb Sunday!
& A Reflection on Tawfik’s Mission
We entered a rather new, frantic and exciting phase in Malaysia after nominations closed for our 15th General Election yesterday. Today’s news and media reports are largely about the largest number of contenders, especially for parliamentary seats.
There is undoubtedly an element of festivity about this election scheduled for November 19 with towns and even remote villages being festooned with colourful party flags and banners. Beneath that, there is also a deeply felt solemnity and heavy symbolism about the serious challenges that the country faces. It is a contest of narratives and an interplay of various aspiring parliamentarians competing with their respective mantras, messages, mechanisms, machinery and mission to influence the electorate to do their bidding. The ultimate decider of this or any election are the people who are being fed with all kinds of blandishments, bribes, brutal lies and half-truths and besieged with promises that particular political parties and individuals can deliver those things that the nation most needs.
GE15 is the most unusual election in Malaysia’s history. It has been called ahead of time by a government that lost the last general election but came to power by an audacious, irregular and unethical maneuver. The minority party that is pivotal to that government is currently the caretaker government, with all the advantages of incumbency. That caretaker government is clearly using the formidable state-run media organisations to project its own agenda. Yet, the non-BN/UMNO parties and individuals are putting up a tough and tenacious fight.
At the heart of the heated contest are the issues of good governance and the integrity of certain political leaders. Two leaders of two significant political parties who are facing serious criminal charges are contesting this election. It would seem both these accused persons are seeking to escape from the charges they are facing should the whole election go in their favour.
This is the most unsavory part of this election. There is this expectation or suspicion that following the election, a new head of the legal bureaucracy would be in place to scuttle or simply drop the charges against these party chiefs. It is a reflection of the parlous situation relating to the impartiality and integrity of the country’s enforcement and regulatory bureaucracy.
One candidate who symbolises the fight against elite corruption and abuse of power more than most is Tawfik Tun Dr. Ismail, the son of one of the nation’s most illustrious statesmen, Tun Dr. Ismail Dato Abdul Rahman( 4 November 1917- 2 August 1973). Tawfik had committed himself, long before the dates for GE15 were announced, that he would contest against the leader of the nation’s most formidable political party, UMNO wherever that leader wanted. That leader, Dato Seri Haji Zahid Hamidi is currently being tried for various corruption and embezzlement charges.
Yesterday Tawfik successfully filed his nomination papers for the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat. It is a four-cornered contest. At the nomination center yesterday he was accompanied by a motley group of at least ten people who shared his ideals and passion for clean governance. Each of his well-funded opponents came with more than five hundred apparently well-incentivised supporters.
We must wish all those candidates who champion accountability, good governance, and transparency the greatest success.
Have a pleasant day.
Santhananaban
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