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A truly defining and defying moment!

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The
Umno-BN hegemony has come to a sudden halt. The 50-year-old political
juggernaut has been severely jolted, its formidable force fragmented, observes Martin Jalleh. The ruling coalition, which had used its brute majority to bully and
bulldoze its way and will in Parliament, blinked when the Opposition
breached its two-thirds majority.


The
regime of
hype, hypocrisy,
hysterics and histrionics, displayed especially in Parliament, has
been humbled, even humiliated.

 

The
government
of unbridled arrogance of power and
brazen
high-handedness
has
been brought low.

A silence hovers over the once haughty and the high and mighty.

The
powers that have dominated, dictated and decided for “the good of
the people” have been dented. The BN is left in a daze as to why
and how they have been ditched.

Umno’s
high-profile ‘heroes’ had failed to prepare the party to cope
with the winds of change. Instead, they became experts in denial,
diversion and damage control.

They
had tried to stamp their superiority by demonising others,
demolishing critics, displaying a
keris
and demonstrating Umno as the staunchest defender of Islam.

Umno’s
elite would even walk over each other to grab every opportunity to
satisfy their grotesque greed — and have the gall to do it under the
guise of fighting for the poor Malay.

Incapable
of reforming themselves, as Dr M had admitted, it was only a matter
of time when Umno would self-destruct – and this took place in the
general election!

The
rakyat
were fed up, frustrated and furious at
the
unconscionable Umnoputra elite and their lapdog coalition partners

for
having
bled this country dry.

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Pak
Lah’s advisors
failed to read the groundswell of
disillusionment and discontentment. Detached from the grassroots,
they discussed day-to-day realities from the Fourth Floor!

For
four years they had gone on a frolic while the people struggled to
stay afloat against the rising cost of living. And all the time,
their leaders grew unconscionably fat and flaunted their fortune.

Khairy
and his boys on the Fourth Floor must have flogged themselves as four
more states fell to the Opposition. Oxbridge must have wished they
never had such an ‘ox-brained’ graduate.

Former
PM Dr M says Pak Lah is responsible for ‘destroying’ Umno and BN.
He forgets that the ruins of today has its roots in his government of
yesterday, one riddled with the most rotten of practices and
personalities.

Small”
smart voter

Alas,
the “small” man and woman on the street without cash, clout or
connection have succeeded in clipping, curtailing and even crushing
executive supremacy.

In
the run-up to the elections they were unafraid of being gassed and
refused to be gagged by the gamut of executive powers to contain,
cripple and crush legitimate dissent.

Neither
did they succumb to the government’s threats and taunts, or fall
for its tricks, treats and theatrics or bow and bend in subservience,
or be ‘bought over’.

In
the long ‘march’ for freedom, the
rakyat
matched the BN’s ‘Man, Media, Money and Machinery’ with their
‘Courage, camadarie, commitment and cyberpower’.

The
populace were not swayed by the four economic corridors (totaling RM1
trillion) – cheap claptrap meant to keep the PM and his cronies in
the corridors of power.

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They
did not flinch nor faint when met with another “formidable force”
– the Election Commission – which left indelible traces of farce,
flaws and fraud behind.

Aided
by the alternative media, the
rakyat
were able to make out and even mock at the
spin and slant
created by the mainstream media assisted by their band of
“convertible” intellectuals.

General
Elections 2008 saw the voter of
Bolehland
coming of age. Crossing the age-old
race and religious divides, many boldly made their ‘one choice’
in the ballot box and told the PM the blunt truth.

The
voter of today is discerning enough to decipher truth from falsehood,
daring enough to cross mental borders, barriers and bias and to risk
uncertainty that accompanies change, and determined enough to
synergise with others to bring about genuine change.

Opposition
representatives must take note of this evolution of the matured and
politically sophisticated voter – who will have no scruples over
voting them out of office if they failed to keep their oath of
office.

One
can imagine Abdullah Badawi looking back on the day when the citizens
of
Bolehland
gave him a massive mandate to seize the moment and to bring about
much-needed change but the PM failed miserably.

The
daggers are now drawn on poor Pak Lah. Perhaps Hishamuddin Hussien
could tell us when they are going to use it? What a tragic and
twisted irony! What an

‘unmitigated disaster’ for Umno, BN and the whole country!

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
  1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
  2. Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
  3. Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
  4. Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
  5. Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
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