Mustafa Sharif
The Malaysian Insider
May 14, 2011

MAY 14 — There has been too much focus on Anwar Ibrahim’s fitness to lead the country; whether Raja Petra Kamaruddin has sold out his ideals for ringgit Malaysia; and what exactly Zaid Ibrahim stands for.

All this is just a distraction from a couple of questions at hand, which are: do Malaysians have to depend on others to transform and save this country? And who exactly is the adversary?

The simple answer is that you and I have to step out of our comfort zones, galvanise family and friends and make a difference at the ballot box.

This is about us versus them. I define us as ordinary Malaysians who have had enough of corruption, abuses of power, intimidation, religious persecution, mediocrity, divide and rule, the discredit of the judiciary, police and other institutions, the blatant flaunting of wealth and power by incumbents, and the incompetence and spineless national media.

I define them as individuals or groups of individuals who want to preserve this state of affairs and the status quo because it enriches them and keeps them in a position of power and privilege. They included government politicians, senior officials of the Election Commission, police force, certain judges, senior editors of the newspapers and television stations, Umno, MACC and crony businessmen.

So when people talk about change and cleaning up the system, this is the “establishment” which we have to confront and defeat. At first glance, this may be insurmountable but as the experience of Egypt and Tunisia shows nothing is impossible and no tyrant strong enough to withstand the will of the people.

It is the same with us. Change will only happen when we decide to take charge of our own destiny. Until that time, we will have to suffer at the hands of people who are morally inferior to us and less capable of leading us.

Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) believe that they have Anwar Ibrahim on the ropes with the sex video. They also believe that they have neutralised whatever little threat Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Zaid Ibrahim posed.

In their calculation, with Pakatan Rakyat weakened and the Opposition movement short of personalities, the rakyat will get disillusioned and return to BN or simply abstain from voting.

They don’t believe for a moment that we will still push for a coalition system or work doubly hard to deny evil their two-thirds majority.

But we must, not because we think that Anwar and his family have been treated unjustly but because if even without two-thirds majority, Umno and its supporters (Utusan Malaysia, MACC, Khalid Abu Bakar, EC, et al) can behave in such an insufferable manner, what will happen to all of us when they command two-thirds majority in Malaysia?

This is a question which keeps me awake at night and persuades me that Malaysians can only be saved by us, ordinary tax-paying Malaysians like you and me.

It’s us versus them and what is at stake is great.