I think people have been blinded by the current state of affairs to realise that in spite of whatever faults we may think Pak Lah has, we owe a lot of our freedoms today to him.
After all, he allowed for the royal commission into the Lingam Tape scandal (do you think this would have been allowed in the Mahathir era?).
If he decided to rule with an iron fist like Dr Mahathir Mohamad do you think Anwar Ibrahim would have been freed?
Let's not forget the relative mindless ‘bliss’ we (the majority) went through the Mahathir years because of the control on information that was in place.
After all, if you aren't around to hear the tree fall in the forest...
Of course, this greater freedom means also that greater criticisms abound, as well as scrutiny.
Look deep enough into the affairs of any politician and you can find something wrong. Anwar, for example, who PKR have practically deified, was part of the same group we scorn today as the fathers of corruption in this country.
So is he really for the people or for revenge because he was ousted?
My personal opinion here is that if Anwar was genuine about change, he should be grooming a new set of leaders for the country instead of trying to become prime minister.
He has too many skeletons in his closet. After all, one can accept the advice of a reformed criminal but one still won't give him the keys to the safe.
Pak Lah may be many things but part of the old Umno that we blame our current ails on today, he isn't.
He has loosened his grip on the country and like the first man into the breach, he has drawn all the fire (and this may well kill his political career).
No. 48, Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar Utama 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2284 3367 (Advertising/Tech/Subscription) | 03-2283 5567 (Editorial) Malaysiakini.com is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
