We live in dangerous times

“In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day, and we should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium.” – Jonathan Larson

The current political turmoil and the impending clash between the newly minted Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Bersih 4.0 are going to shake our political landscape, for better or worse.

Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, would want to flex his muscle to show who’s in charge. Going by recent events, it is unlikely that he will let the Bersih 4.0 organisers and protesters have it their way.

1MDB is turning out to be a snowball crisis for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration.

The financial scandal claimed its biggest victim yet, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The former deputy prime minister, who has nearly nothing to do with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was euphemistically “dropped” from the Cabinet under a reshuffle.

Meanwhile, none of the perpetrators of 1MDB are called up for investigation, let alone being charged in court (unless of course, we think scapegoats such as the despatch rider is the one responsible for approving and managing 1MDB).

All hopes of a fair investigation and trial have gone up in flames following a series of events within 24 hours.

The Attorney-General (A-G) is terminated in the middle of the 1MDB special task force’s probe, the deputy prime minister is replaced, the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman is “promoted”, four PAC committee members will resign, and then there’s the fire in Bukit Aman.

It’s becoming too much like a movie.

Yes, the now former deputy prime minister is not a saint. We get that, and we are not elevating him to a hero status.

But the fact remains that he is the next highest authority that the A-G can report to, other than the prime minister himself (who is being investigated).

The decision to sack both deputy prime minister and A-G is carried out with such speed that it is bound to raise speculations.

However much we loathe Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, the A-G is still the only one that can press charges.

Just like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), both PAC and the special task force has no power to file charges.

This is perhaps why institutional reforms are a necessity if we want to make real changes.

How could we expect the A-G to prosecute those in power if they can easily appoint and remove him with a stroke of the pen?

Even if he happens to have the courage to do so, the powers-that-be would instantly remove him as A-G.

The A-G office should be independent, autonomous, and answerable to a bipartisan party – perhaps the Parliament, not the prime minister.

Similarly, MACC should have the power to press charge without having to refer to the A-G.

The sheer difficulty of getting to the bottom of the truth, and seeing that justice prevails, is surely perpetuated by the concentration of power in the hands of the executive.

As Dan Slater so eloquently puts it, “all of the defining features of Malaysia’s current crisis under Najib’s leadership were already evident under (Tun Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad)” – increased repression, autocracy of the Prime Minister’s Office, indebted economy, and suspension of the media.

1MDB would either be taught in the history textbook as a watershed event, akin to the Watergate in American history, or completely ignored. Such is the element of selection in the history discipline.

It is then the task of the future historian to preserve “history as it happened”, not “history as recorded”.

As for the present, there could be dark days ahead. Whenever there is an internal fiasco or external threat to Umno, the whole nation is dragged along and destabilised.

Umno and The Alliance lost their two-third majority in 1969 and we know what happened next, Operasi Lalang was carried out in the same period as the Umno crisis in 1987-88, the Reformasi protests and police crackdown following the Mahathir-Anwar saga in 1998-99, and the use of ISA on three individuals (a news portal editor, a news reporter, and an opposition MP) in post-308 tsunami.

There is no guarantee that history will not repeat itself, mainly because we still have the same players, the same institutions, and the same concentration of power in the hands of the few. When you have a hammer, everything is a nail.

I fear if a major crackdown would follow soon. Civil society is taking the initiative to organise and push back against all that is wrong in our society.

It is a good thing that we are now increasingly less relying on politicians and political parties to take action (maybe because the people have been disappointed one too many times).

But the formidable foes will do everything it takes to stay in power. Then there’s that groups of opportunists, mainly politicians, who would want to take advantage of the situation.

The resulting clash between the great forces at work might shape the nation for times to come.

This “unpredictable and promising” circumstances would prove to be either a turning point in our nation’s history, or continues to drag us down the hill.

One thing for sure though, we live in exciting, yet dangerous times. – August 1, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.