He said opposition MPs, "most of whom are new", would not have touched on the legality of Parliament being convened not in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution if I had not raised it.
The Prime Minister was insulting the intelligence and integrity of Barisan Alternative MPs thinking that just because Barisan Nasional MPs could be led by the nose by the Barisan Nasional leadership, turning them into Parliamentary "yes-men" and "yes-women", Barisan Alternative MPs are the same.
The collective walkout by all the Barisan Alternative and PBS MPs on Monday was not pre-planned, as although the DAP, PAS and KeADILan MPs had a pre-council meeting on Sunday night, this had not involved the three PBS MPs who also joined in the walk-out on Monday.
The pre-council meeting of the Barisan Alternative MPs on Sunday night focussed on the issue of the legality of Parliament not convened in accordance with the Constitution and the parliamentary standing orders, and although the possibility of a protest walkout was raised, no decision was taken for a collective walk-out by the Barisan Alternative MPs the next morning as there were differences of opinion on the matter.
The collective walk-out by all the BA and PBS MPs in the Dewan
Rakyat on Monday was the spontaneous protest and outrage of the Opposition
MPs in their disgust at the Barisan Nasional's arbitrary and high-handed
contempt for the Constitution, Parliament and the Yang di Pertuan Agong
in refusing to cancel parliamentary meeting and convene
instead on Dec. 29, 1999, so as to
comply with the provisions of the Constitution and the Parliamentary
Standing Orders as well as in time to approve the contingency finance bill
to authorise government expenditures for the first six months of next year
until approval of the 2,000 Budget.
It is clear from today’s local press that there is indeed a "puppet master" pulling strings, and he is none other than Mahathir himself, who is pulling strings to orchestrate an attack on the Barisan Alternative MPs for staging Monday’s walkout in protest against the statutory rape of the Constitution and Parliamentary Standing Orders.
Mahathir is "pulling strings" to orchestrate a two-prong attack on the Barisan Alternative MPs, firstly by schooling the other Barisan Nasional leaders, both at national and state level, to parrot his allegations that I was the "mastermind" and "puppet master pulling strings" for the Opposition walk-out on Monday, that the ‘walkout" was an attempt to "sabotage" Parliament and represented "samseng culture".
The first to parrot Mahathir was none other than the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who immediately told reporters in Parliament on Monday that the walk-out was planned by the Barisan Alternative MPs in their pre-council meeting on Sunday for the sake of local and international mass media.
The second to parrot Mahathir on the same day was the Minister for Rural Development, Datuk Azmi Khalid.
In today’s press, we can see other "parrots" responding to the "puppet master pulling his strings", and this is why the Minister for Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Wira Mohd Ali Rustam and the Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Tan Sri Mohamad Isa Abdul Samad came out with statements denouncing the walk-out as well as accusing me of being responsible for it.
I am not surprised by these "parrots" in UMNO, but am surprised by certain NGO personalities parroting the same line, like FOMCA President Professor Hamdan Adnan and the MTUC President, Senator Zainal Rampak.
Malaysians must expect more "parrots" in the next few days to respond to Mahathir’s puppet-strings!
The second prong of the "puppet master’s string-pulling" is to orchestrate an attack in the Barisan Nasional-controlled mass media, and this is why New Straits Times, Star, Sun, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian all carried biased and one-sided editorials, special write-ups and "letters to the editor" to castigate the walkout by Barisan Alternative MPs.
This is all very reminiscent of the primary role played by the mainstream mass media in the eight-day campaign of the 1999 general election in making it the dirtiest election in the nation’s 42-year history with the most unbelievably unethical and irresponsible journalism where there is no respect for truth and facts whatsoever.
Normally such unethical and irresponsible journalism by the Barisan Nasional-controlled mass media are orchestrated to release their vicious power only during a general election campaign period, and are immediately ended until the next general election campaign four or five years later.
But now, for the first time in Barisan Nasional history, such a vicious
and malicious orchestration of the Barisan Nasional-controlled mass media
are being redeployed against the Opposition less than a month after
the last general election - which is an eloquent testimony of two
things:
The New Straits Times for instance carried a "News Analysis: Opposition aggression in Parliament a harbinger of things to come" in Page 2 by Chok Suat Ling which is a harbinger that the New Straits Times is going to be as biased and vicious against the Opposition as during the election campaign period using loaded terms like "ill-omen", "antics", "ruckus" and parroting Mahathir brand-name term with the closing paragraph: "Opposition MPs should be reminded that the samseng culture has no place within the halls of the Parliament".
But this purported "News Analysis" which should more truthfully be described as "News Distortion" is mere child-play compared to the trash in the New Straits Times editorial entitled "Death of Decorum", which oozes with pomposity and hypocrisy.
The editorial intoned:
Where was the NST when Barisan Nasional MPs brought the last Parliament into disrepute by the lack of "decorum, dignity and discipline" using foul language, offensive ethnic jokes as well as sexist remarks? When did the NST wake up to realise that Parliament should be "a place for coherent and meaningful debates and exchange of ideas, not to inflame the baser instincts of politics" when it did not publish one per cent of my "coherent and meaningful debates and ideas" during my 30 years in Parliament!
The NST editorial used Mahathir’s brand-name term of "street-brawling" and other offensive terms like "mob language", "show of muscles", "subverting the parliamentary process and proceedings", "rebel-rousers" and "political whims".
The NST produced its "Cant of the Century" with the following
close in its editorial:
Let me tell the NST editorialist that there are no "scroundels". There are however "scroungers" apart from "scoundrels" - and both fit description of those who are unmoved by the statutory rape of the Constitution and Parliament and yet could talk glibly about their fear that nothing will remain "sacrosant" (sic) again, (when they do not even find the English language sacrosanct!)
Utusan Malaysia’s editorial "Pembangkang Tidak Konstruktif" and Berita Harian editorial "PAS tidak wajar teladani DAP di Parlimen" have an additional agenda apart from parroting Mahathir’s baseless allegations, to try to create division and mistrust between PAS and DAP by alleging that PAS had been misled by DAP to stage the walkout.
Someone made this perceptive posting on the Internet today:
"After Elections: With LKS out of parliament, Dr. M claims that LKS is leading PAS by the nose.
"Either he thinks we have short memories or we are stupid."
I would make a final call to the mainstream mass media now that the general election is over, let us put an end to such one-sided, biased and poisonous reporting and writing in the Malaysian mass media and have a return of decent and civilized journalism - or they are going to forfeit all credibility and respect by the Malaysian people and their journalistic counterparts in the rest of the world.
(22/12/99)