Speech (3) by Lim Kit Siang at the Sabah DAP
forum “Malaysia – Towards A New Era” at Kian Kok Middle School Hall,
Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday, 16th September 2008:
Zaid’s resignation “last nail in the
coffin” of Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after March 8 “political
tsunami”
Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s announcement
this morning that his decision to resign as Minister in the Prime
Minister’s DepAartment is final despite being advised by the Prime
Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to reconsider the move is the
“last nail in the coffin” of Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after
the March 8 “political tsunami”.
It is clear that the detentions of DAP MP for Seputeh and Selangor
Senior Exco Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin under the nefarious and
iniquitous Internal Security Act (ISA) were the last straw causing Zaid
to submit his resignation after a six-month stint in the Cabinet, making
him the only Minister in the nation’s history to resign on a matter of
principle.
When Zaid was surprisingly appointed by Abdullah to be a Minister after
the Barisan Nasional debacle in the March general election, it was clear
that Zaid had a special agenda – to retrieve Abdullah’s credibility and
legitimacy as a Reform Prime Minister by carrying out reforms in the
important sectors of the judiciary, the police and anti-corruption.
Zaid’s resignation is an admission that Abdullah’s repeat pledge of the
reform programme after the March political tsunami has come to the end
of the road, that:
• there is not going to be any Independent
Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), the key
recommendation of the Royal Police Commission to create an
efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to
keep crime low and protect human rights;
• there is not going to be any meaningful Judicial Appointments
Commission to restore national and international confidence in the
independence, impartiality, integrity and quality of the judiciary –
and that for the first time in the 51-year history of the nation, an
UMNO Chief Justice will be appointed next month, plunging the
country into a new round of judicial crisis and darkness; and
• there is little hope that an all-out war against corruption would
be launched to place Malaysia among the world’s least-corrupt
nations
With the recent gross abuses of the ISA - the
scandal of the 18-hour detention of Sin Chew senior reporter Tan Hoon
Cheng and the arrests of MP Teresa Kok and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin
– the Abdullah administration has finally given up the ghost about its
pretensions of being a reformist government.
When Zaid submitted his resignation on Monday, Abdullah asked Zaid to
take two weeks’ leave to think it over, suggesting that Zaid was
“exhausted”.
This was a most insensitive and irresponsible comment, prompting many to
say that the person who should take two weeks’ leave to think over his
role in government and contribution to Malaysian nation is none other
than Abdullah himself.
The Prime Minister should take the opportunity to ponder why his
popularity has plunged from 92% at the end of 2004 to 42 per cent in
July this year, and if an opinion poll is conducted now, he will be
struggling to keep his head above water to be above the dismal 25%
approval rating.
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP
Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
http://dapmalaysia.org