By Hussein Hamid

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.” Charles Dickens.

Those lines are an apt description of the situation Pakatan Rakyat finds itself in today! Pakatan Rakyat is the Government in waiting and yet will it govern?

The people had the wisdom to chose Pakatan Rakyat in the last GE and yet would they be foolish enough now to hand it back to UMNO; Pakatan Rakyat leaders had belief that the people within their midst were committed to the ideals and aspirations of the Rakyat and Party and yet incredibly there are those within Pakatan Rakyat that would put self before the party – even before the Rakyat; We the Rakyat can see the light at the end of the tunnel and yet the season of darkness under UMNO is still upon us; This is the Spring of hope that we have all waited for to rid ourselves of the tyranny of UMNO and yet we still live in the winter of despair because we continue to suffer the injustices and the arrogance inflicted upon us by the Judiciary, The Police and our own government; We have everything before us with the coming of the General Election and yet all might come to nought if we are not focused and committed to our cause ; If we are victorious in what we do we will have the heaven we have hoped for…. if not another 50 years of hell under UMNO.

So where do we go now? In all honesty I do not see how Najib could even start to govern. It would seem that even the heavens are against him. Two days ago three schoolgirls died because of human errors that could and should have been avoidable. Just as we were coming to terms with this terrible tragedy the Father of one of these girls’ dies – of a broken heart I guess. Najib must think that even the heavens are conspiring against him. Maybe they are…maybe they are!

Najib is reduced to taking whatever mileage he can out of the perceived misfortunes of the opposition! Like the tow trucks that will only make their money when there is an accident or if your car breaks down…. like the Funeral Houses that needs a corpse before it can make its money……Najib makes merry out of the perceived misfortune of the opposition. But while he thinks he is dancing on top of the graves of his opponents – his opponent is really cleaning house. Ridding itself of unwanted baggage and blood sucking parasites. And Najib welcomes these unwanted baggage and blood sucking parasites with open arms! What would UMNO do with these filth once the euphoria of them jumping into UMNO/Barisan is done with? The toddy shop loves a drunkard – but not for his son-in-law. What would UMNO do with these people? What would UMNO do?

What of the Opposition? What of Pakatan Rakyat? Yes it would seem that it is the winter of their discontent and yet their courage in ridding
themselves of their unwanted baggage will serve them well in the long run. Not in the short term but in the long term – after all the GE is still a few years away. Enough time for those unwanted baggage who have joined UMNO to become a burden and an embarrassment to UMNO while PR will have time to ensure that new blood have been given their ‘baptism of fire’ and are ready for the coming GE.

This is what we see being played out in front of our eyes today. I can only say this for now: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” So says Buddha. We will have to use much of our common sense and our sensibilities to discern the right and the wrong, the good and the bad and ultimately Pakatan Rakyat or UMNO. For me that decision has been made many years back when the politics of patronage, cronyism, deceit, greed and arrogance defined UMNO for what it is. A Party that uses its own race to further the financial interest of its own members! We can do without them!