Raymond Tan Spilled Beans on Prime Minister

Sometimes morons can do some good, it seems. Thought I'd never see the day this would happen. It did, this week. Guess, only in Malaysia, huh?

The Sabah Progressive Party's (SAPP) pull-out of the Barisan Nasional (BN) last week exposed another political blunder committed by BN's pool of incompetent, grovelling, shameless and politically dumb politicians that have been running this country. In a 'hey-you-owe-me-big-time' move on his former boss cum SAPP President Yong Teck Lee, SAPP's disgruntled ex-Deputy President Raymond Tan unwittingly ratted on Prime Minister Badawi when he revealed that it was he who saved SAPP President Yong's behind when Badawi wanted to arrest Yong months earlier under the ISA for supporting a vote of no confidence on Badawi. So, now the whole world knows that in spite of his rhetorics for legal reforms and the rule-of-law, Prime Minister Badawi is the biggest culprit who is not practicing what he preaches. In fact, he is doing exactly the opposite of what he preaches on reforms, democracy and rule-of-law. Yesterday, 22nd September 2008 was a sad day for Malaysia when Raymond Tan so proudly announced, "I Stopped PM from Ordering Yong's Arrest". Waah, so powerful ahh you Raymond! And every newspaper and news websites carried the report similar to this:

The war of attrition continues over the sudden withdrawal of Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) from Barisan Nasional last week as a “shocking revelation” came to light.

MCPX

Its disgruntled ex-deputy president Raymond Tan (left) claimed on Saturday that he had been instrumental in preventing the arrest of party president Yong Teck Lee in June in relation to allegations of corruption.

An English-language daily in Sabah quoted Tan as saying that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had wanted Yong arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). This was after Yong spearheaded a no-confidence vote against Abdullah’s leadership.

In defending himself against claims of ingratitude by failing to support the Sapp pullout, Tan revealed that he had intervened on Yong’s behalf in June.

He said he had pleaded with Abdullah not to arrest Yong as it would be a bad move, and had even gone on television with a plea to allow the latter to speak up. - Malaysiakini, 22/9/08 - 'I stopped PM from ordering Yong's arrest'
(http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/90153)

Just great! Now we have another made-in-Sabah political blooper! A boast which turned out to be a rat! Haiiayaaa...malulah! Raymond's ex-colleagues in SAPP were quick to criticise:

In an immediate response, SAPP newly-appointed information chief Chong Pit Fah described this as a “a shocking revelation [...] that he can influence the prime minister to stop ACA action”.

“This is an admission by a BN deputy chief minister that the prime minister can interfere with ACA work,” Chong said in a statement issued yesterday.

He also wanted to know if the same influence could be used on other persons such as serving ministers, or similarly abused. - Malaysiakini, 22/9/08 - 'I stopped PM from ordering Yong's arrest'.

This incident and his refusal to support SAPP's pullout apparently have earned Raymond Tan and array of labels - from ingrat to moronic rat to an Independent in BN, the latter is what Raymond called himself ever since the pullout. Is there such a thing - an Independent in BN?! I've always thought that if you are an Independent candidate, you are a stand-alone with no affiliation to any party. I guess this moronic genius has come up with a new definition for an Independent Candidate.

Still, Raymond Tan has refused to resign from all his government posts including the Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and the Minister of Infrastructure Development. Raymond has the blessing of the Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman to retain both his government posts (as reported in Daily Express today, 23 Sept 2008, headlined "Tan Keeps Cabinet Posts for Now" accompanied by a huge pix of the CM and Raymond shaking hands with equally huge, wide grins). What this means depend on who one is talking to. To some, this implies hogging and an inability to let go of power; to others, this may mean Raymond is merely 'jaga periuk', loosely translated to 'protecting his source of income'. Of course, that 'periuk' cannot be Raymond's and raymond's alone, Of course, not. It goes without saying that that 'periuk' must be too huge and lucrative to let go (being Minister of Infrastructure, whaaat...) and is being shared by many many around. And you don't have to be a retard to see that the 'many' could include those who gave their blessing....

One Down, 29 To Go - Advantage Pakatan Rakyat

Today, 8th September 2008, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Opposition Leader of Pakatan Rakyat scored another point towards realising his 16th September campaign to overthrow the National Front (BN) Government, eight days ahead of the scheduled date. Today, the BN has one less Member of Parliament (MP), thanks to the Kota Kinabalu High Court which this morning ruled against Tan Sri Joseph Kurup the unopposed winner of the Pensiangan Parliamentary seat in the March 8 general elections. This was reported in major online news portal more or less like this:

BN now has one MP less

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 8 — The Kota Kinabalu High Court today declared null and void the election of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup as the unopposed winner of the Pensiangan parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election. — Bernama (http://www.malaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia)

At the rate things are moving, Anwar might just make his dream come true, well...maybe not overthrow the BN Government exactly on 16th September but sometime before end of the year. Even with the whole Malaysian Government machinery fighting every move Anwar makes to realising his ambition of becoming the next Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar seems almost certain and closer to making this ambition a reality.

The BN Government, especially UMNO, has pulled every stunt in the book, even the seemingly most foolish and illogical, to deny Anwar his ambition. The past few months, ever since Anwar announced his intention to contest in a by-election as the first step towards getting into mainstream Malaysian politics, have seen incredulous allegations and charges against Anwar:

• the ridiculous Sodomy II and the impending court appearance on 10 September;
• the high drama arrest of Anwar by 30 policemen in full blalacava gear in 16 police cars;
• the demand for Anwar's DNA samples by UMNO people in high places including the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, himself;
• the 'oath-taking' demands on Anwar from numerous UMNO parrots just as his accuser, Saifool, and Deputy Prime Minister Najib, ridiculous as it seems, have done;
• the conspicuous tabling of the DNA Bill in Parliament on the very day polling for the Peramatang Pauh by-election was going on, and where Anwar and all his men were on the fileld ensuring Anwar's landslide victory; and
• now, the all-paid trip to a retreat (or is it a course?) in Australia for BN MPs from 7th to 19 September, obviously to head off Anwar's 16th September plan.

Despite the might and power of the Malaysian government machinery, all the above (not including the latter) failed to stop Anwar's landslide victory in Permatang Pauh. And now even with Anwar in Parliament, the BN Government is being made even more desperate to ensure, as openly promised by PM Badawi himself, that Anwar is stopped in his tracks to Putrajaya.

But by the way events are unfolding on a daily basis, Anwar might just get to Putrajaya. The 30 Members of Parliament (MPs) that Anwar needs to change the Government, as Anwar himself has openly announced, are from Sabah and Sarawak. There rumour mills have been on overdrive as the 16 September date looms near, and numerous rumours have been making their rounds. In the case of Sabah, the two Sabah SAPP MPs have made their intentions clear ever since announcing their support for any 'vote-of-no-confidence' against Prime Minister Badawi for BN's disastrous performance in the general elections last March. In addition to these two doubtful SAPP/MP seats for BN, today's decision by the Kota Kinabalu High Court to rule BN's win in Pensiangan as null and void could spell greater trouble for BN as these could mean 3 less seats for BN.

So, in the light of all that have been happening these few months, including and especially today's Kota Kinabalu High Court decision and the loss of an MP seat for BN, Anwar might just be headed straight to Putrajaya, maybe not on scheduled on 16th September as planned, but still on track to Putrajaya. Yes, right on track to a change in the government, and on to a new and better Malaysia for all Malaysians.