By P Ramakrishnan President of Aliran
The decision to refer Anwar Ibrahim to the Rights and Privileges Committee did not come as a surprise to Malaysians. It was a foregone conclusion. Even before the debate began in Parliament, the outcome was very obvious.
The whole issue had descended into “Get your enemy at all cost – forget about justice and fair play.” In a game of numbers, there is no need to be moral about what you do. Just nail him. You have the numbers to achieve that!
The Rights and Privileges Committee – according to what Malaysians tend to believe – would find Anwar guilty and suspend him. His removal from Parliament would spare them from Anwar’s scathing attacks and more embarrassing revelations that would put them in a spot. This won’t gag Anwar from speaking up. But the forthcoming Sodomy II trial in all probability would fix that for the Barisan Nasional.
In a way, this may work favourably for the Opposition. Malaysians are in no mood to tolerate blatant abuses or forgive the BN’s excesses. It is a matter of time when things will be put right.