(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): The Barisan Nasional Secretary-General, Datuk Mohamad Rahmat, who is also the Information Minister, is the second Cabinet Minister to respond to my speech in Penang on Sunday that I am prepared to return to the Penang political arena if the people of Penang are prepared to be in the vanguard of a new national movement for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.
Mohamad Rahmat said that I would be "crushed" if I return to the Penang political arena, just like the Gerakan President and Primary Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik who said that I would be in for a "shock" if I return to the Penang political arena.
I am upset by Mohamad Rahmat and Keng Yaik’s responses which not only underrated the idealism and sense of justice of the people of Penang but also virtually wrote off the idea that the people of Penang are capable of being in a frontline state in a new national movement for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.
If Mohamad Rahmat and Keng Yaik are right that the people of Penang are very satisfied and contented with the state of affairs in Malaysia, see no injustice in the case of Lim Guan Eng, and do not agree that the Lim Guan Eng case has again brought to the fore the great issues of freedom of speech, the role of a Member of Parliament, crisis of confidence in the judiciary, the future of democracy, the international image of Malaysia, then Penang cannot be the vanguard of any new movement of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance in Malaysia.
It is clear that Mohamad Rahmat and Lim Keng Yaik do not feel any sense of outrage over the case of Lim Guan Eng and they do not sense and feel any sense of injustice that a political leader and Member of Parliament who responded to the pleas for help of a grandmother to defend the human rights and women rights of her underaged granddaughter against the most powerful and mighty personality in the state should be jailed for 36 months and face disqualification as Member of Parliament.
Both Mohamad Rahmat and Keng Yaik probably fully endorse the earlier statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who defended the Court of Appeal decision to enhance Guan Eng’s sentence from RM15,000 to three years’ jail.
The question is whether the thinking and perceptions of Mohamad Rahmat and Keng Yaik fully represent the thinking and perceptions of the people of Penang.
I have reason to believe that this may not be so, that unlike Mohamad Rahmat and Keng Yaik, the overwhelming majority of the people of Penang are capable of feeling and expressing outrage against injustice and oppression, as illustrated by the heart-warming turnout and response to the "Sympathy, Support and Solidarity with Lim Guan Eng" ceramah in Penang on Sunday.
However, I am fully conscious that "one swallow does not make a spring", and this is why I said that if the people of Penang are prepared to be the engine-head in a new national movement for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance, I am prepared to return to the Penang political arena to help in giving the full impetus to such a new national movement.
Unfortunately, the reactions of the Barisan Nasional leaders are purely "electoral" in nature, based on their reading as to how it would affect the winning of seats in the next general elections, whether the Gerakan Chief Ministership is again in danger - showing no interest whatsoever to the great issues of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.
Let us not just think of the next general election. Let us be more farsighted and think of the future of the nation and future generations of Malaysians.
I have said that my announcement on Sunday is not a launching of Tanjong 4 Plan to capture the Penang State Government, or about contests in the next general elections. I have no interest whatsoever in the Penang Chief Ministership, as the sole priority of the the new national movement for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance is for all Malaysians to unite and stand up to speak with a clear voice that the time has come for a change in the national system so that injustices as highlighted by the Lim Guan Eng case cannot take place in Malaysia and that the great issues symbolised by the case, whether on freedom of expression, the role of MPs, independence of the judiciary, the future of democracy are seriously addressed by the nation.
In this connection, I wish to object in the strongest terms possible to the New Straits Times report today which carried the headline "DAP leader sets condition for comeback", which was completely baseless as I had never referred to any "conditions".
The New Straits Times report said: "He also laid down other conditions for his return. Among these are that Penang must spearhead a new political movement for justice, freedom and democracy."
The New Straits Times should not try to trivalise the great issues of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance which should be the concern of all Malaysians, including the Malaysian press. It should not try to twist and distort my statement that "if the people of Penang are prepared to be the engine-head in a new national movement for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance, I am prepared to return to the Penang political arena to help in giving the full impetus to such a new national movement" into "setting conditions for a comeback".
The New Straits Times should play a full role in the national campaign for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance. If it is unable to contribute to such a campaign, the least it can do is not to place obstacles in its path.
(29/4/98)