JUST when one thought that the unity government’s strategic communications could not get any worse, the Madani leaders have “outdone” themselves again.
It was all over the news recently that participants of the march to Parliament by the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement (TBH-ADA) were man-handled by the police.
The dress collar of one of the female organising committee’s was grabbed by the police and despite being choked, she was not let off for a long time, causing her necklace to break. The incident also left marks on her neck, according to a Malaysiakini report.
By any measure, this would have been a big no-no for Pakatan Harapan (PH) which had rode on the issue since the death of ex-journalist Teoh who was a political aide to Ean Yong Hian Wah – the then Selangor state executive councillor and DAP state assemblyman of Seri Kembangan – on July 16, 2009.
Fast forward some 15 years later, it’s a major faux pas for the government which the DAP is a central part of today to man-handle the very activists who laid the foundation for the party to capture Putrajaya under the PH coalition.
To mitigate any fallout, recall that DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming who is also Housing and Local Government Minister had on May 10 requested Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution to halt investigations into a protest held by TBH-ADA.
Poor contact line
The question is why didn’t Nga convey the party’s wishes to Saifuddin earlier? Hadn’t Nga known about the march which was publicised in the news days or even weeks earlier?
Why couldn’t there have been better co-ordination in messaging on the part of PH leaders (Saifuddin is also the PKR secretary-general)?
Don’t they speak to each other? Do they not have WhatsApp chat groups? If not, it’s time they set up one!
The march by Teoh’s sympathisers was not the only recent incident of poor communications by the unity government.
Earlier, DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh had expressed concern over speculation that Attorney-General Datuk Seri Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh is tipped to be made the chief judge of Malaya.
“The Madani government should refrain from departing from the practice of appointing a serving Federal Court judge as chief judge of Malaya as there is no reason, in the circumstances, to recruit someone who has not served on the bench for the role,” the three-term Bukit Gelugor MP pointed out in a statement.
“Appointing an outsider to one of the country’s most senior judicial posts would certainly be a step backwards and reflect poorly on the government’s commitment to judicial reforms.”
Why did Ramkarpal – himself a former deputy law and institutional reform minister – have to wash dirty linen in public? Why can’t he channel his grievances over a rumour internally? Are there no internal feedback mechanisms for this to be carried out?
For Malaysians, seeing senior government leaders contradicting each other does not instill confidence in the Madani administration.
It is high time for the leaders to be on the same page, else we might as well change the name “unity government” to “disunity government”.
Back to Beng Hock’s fate, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has finally scheduled a meeting with his family on Aug 1.
His sister Teoh Lee Lan informed the media last night (July 17) that Anwar’s political secretary Chan Ming Kai had contacted her earlier in the evening to finalise the date of the meeting. – July 18, 2024
