My Anthem

Thursday, February 17, 2011

UBF-SNAP alliance -- one leg in two boats, again

I sighted a commenter's point about Jeffrey Kitingan which I concur with 100%.I had earlier written exactly a similar assessment about the former BN, then PKR socalled-strongman -- all cheerleaders including one MCLMer Haris Ibrahim and sidekick named zorro claimed really! -- the phrase I used then was "ONE LEG IN TWO BOATS" while the commenter Michatan2000 said "(J Kitingan) wants the cake and eat it at the same time."


as in the following:

...
written by michatan2000, February 17, 2011 13:08:28
This is the problem with Jeffrey Kittingan. He wants the cake and eat it at the same time. Going to bed with BN and opposition parties at the same time. Hedging all the time without a principled stand. MCLM should refrain from dealing with Jeffrey Kittingan.

As where the comment appeared, Desi is NOT going to lend you a helping hand,just mention its title:(

UBF aims to help SNAP


DESIDERATA's PS:
I think there is a parallel between UBF and MCLM. Hence I would ask of J Kitinggan the same I had asked of Haris Ibraim in the following post, especially the HIGHLIGHTED POINT,**** dated
Monday, December 20, 2010

Bersih2.0 muddied by People's Parliament playing 'active' politics

Bersih rallies for free and clean elections
YL Chong

My "concerned" activist-friend said that with Haris' involvement in MCLM -- touted by many as The Third Force -- he and several Bersih activists are not happy that the "neutrality" of Bersih is being compromised once MCLM started announcing "nominees" comprising so-called "Malaysians of integity" as candidates for GE13.

KUALA LUMPUR - I recently bumped into an non-governmental organisation (NGO) activist who expressed concern about civil rights lawyer-blogger Haris Ibrahim's increasingly "political" role in Malaysian politics. Nothing wrong with any individual playing politics except that Haris is also founder of People's Parliament which has been, and still is, a key component of the coalition named Bersih -- Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (BERSIH2.0)-- whose cornerstone role since its formation is fighting for free and fair elections in Malaysia. Just two weekends ago, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) was launched by blogger-in-exile Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) in London with RPK being announced as the Chairman, and Haris as the President.

"Bersih" in Bahasa Malaysia means "Clean" and is the acronym for this coalition of NGOs started before the last general elections in 2008 (GE12) to improve all aspects of what was and still is perceived by the citizenry of a highly "tainted" electoral processes leading to the Malaysian Parliament as well as to the State Assemblies. And with the next general elections (GE13) expected to be around the corner, the weekend saw a briefing by Haris for NGOs on what MCLM is all about, and the previous weekend the launch of MCLM in Lodon.

My "concerned" activist-friend said that with Haris' involvement in MCLM -- touted by many as The Third Force -- he and several Bersih activists are not happy that the "neutrality" of Bersih is being compromised once MCLM started announcing "nominees" comprising so-called "Malaysians of integrity" as candidates for GE13 -- the first being lawyer said to be esteemed by the community, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. A first public forum scheduled for tomorrow (Dec 21, 2010) in KL will see the second MCLM candidate publicised.

Will Bersih2.0 leaders now make a policy decision with component-members like Haris and RPK who want to actively take part in partisan politics, however "independent" they claim to be? Just for the record, some key Bersih2.0 Steering Committee Members hereby listed:

1. Dato’ Ambiga Sreenavasan Chairperson of BERSIH. Former President of Malaysian Bar Council and a senior practising lawyer.
2. Andrew Khoo Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, Malaysian Bar Council
3. Arumugam K. President of SUARAM, a well-known human rights organisation
4. Dr Farouk Musa President of the Islamic Rennaisance Front, a think tank promoting civilisational dialogue; a lecturer
5. Maria Chin Abdullah Executive Director of Empower, a women and human rights organisation and working for democratic governance.
6. Haris Ibrahim Founder of Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, a citizen movement that fights corruption and racism; a human rights lawyer

I am not writing today about the mechanics of MCLM's participation in GE13 like the rote it would finally take -- via other PR component parties like DAP and PKR as hinted by Haris? -- but lesser mortals like me a blogger who also carries a membership card of an Opposition party would ask: Isn't this a political tole for Malaysians who have committed to a REGISTERED political party's membership for some time to offer themselves as "candidates". Never mind the semantics of "quality" and who judges "integrity or character" -- I referred to these judges as demi-gods yes as a non-compliment, I must add! -- of the nominees, but surely a potential candidate must have been himself/herself sufficiently motivated to sign up as a member of the duly registered parties, UMNO,MCA, MIC, do I care? Or PKR, DAP or PAS, yes, I care! Or even KITA if you are desperate enough!

I don't care what motivated RPK and Haris' latest move via MCLM, but I care if it threatens the people/Rakyat's concerted efforts to topple the BN-UMNO government in Putrajaya, which I contend MCLM's progress will despite the founders' and supporters' protestations to the contrary. ****IF you want to lay an active role as NGO, let it be, just don't start this process of contesting GE13 directly or indirectly. Join former PKR deputy president aspirant Zaid Ibrahim -- Go sign up as a KITA member-lah, for a start -- that's surely a basic desideratum of infant entry into playing politics, is it not?

posted by desiderata

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