Political survival at the cost of lives and livelihoods – Zainul Arifin

HAVE politicians missed the point on what Covid-19 means to us? 

This, of course, is an unfair question designed solely to elicit negative responses. Seriously though,  excuse me for my cynicism, but there is an argument to be made that some see the pandemic to be a political inconvenience rather than a serious health threat.

For us, the pandemic means being stuck at home, missing families and friends. Many of us are without work, our kids are not in schools and some of us are having to rely on the generosity of strangers. It has been a trying year and it shows on our faces, in our conversations and our mental well-being.

Yet, Covid-19 is yet another opportunity for some politicians, regardless of their affiliations, whilst riding their hobby horses, to shout the loudest that they care the most. 

The tussle for control of Putrajaya and the premiership, for instance, is a case in point. No matter whom you support, love, like, hate, loathe, abhor, distrust, don’t mind or have no opinion of or enthused about, is exhausting. And it bows not to the pandemic.

The I-have-the-numbers and statutory declarations games are getting too frequent, with everyone seemingly waving sheets of testimonies, getting social media all excited with scoops and sure-things, permutations and speculations.

We have been getting them in our inboxes ever since Pakatan Harapan self-imploded. Imagine having to live through that for over a year, endlessly and relentlessly, and at the same time being frightened to bits by infection and death rates.

So the PM is still the PM, until he is not, and he has the support even when his opponents say he has lost it. So nothing has changed since the last time I checked – his rickety coalition is still standing, even if it is just held together by twigs and vines, regardless of the huffing and puffing of his detractors. 

The recent shortened Parliamentary sitting was the manifestation of tone-deafness; a mosh pit of verbal strutting, preening and jostling with the eyes trained at the camera live-streaming to the citizenry, even as we were registering yet another day of record cases.

Perhaps angered by prolonged closure, the emergency ordinance, the prime minister’s ability to pull out yet another rabbit from his hat to frustrate his opponents, some came into the session spoiling for a fight. As a result, even as most of our opinions on politics and politicians have generally been less than charitable, we saw how it could demonstrably be lowered.

The screaming and shouting, at and over one another, and the shrill of partisanship will not move the needle one bit in our battle against the pandemic. Also, if they think they looked good, they better think again. Many did well to make a mockery of the Yang Berhormat honorific. For sure, very few came out of the four-day session covered in glory.

Many of us had expected to be enlightened on how we are dealing with the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic. Alas, we had too high a hope. At the end of the day, I am not sure what was achieved, though we had some elected representatives doing the work of WhatsApp messages to promote the miracle cure of ivermectin.

It is likely the rabid supporters would celebrate their men, or women, hectoring the speaker or their honourable opponents but, for the rest of us, bedlam in the legislature is an aspirational thing.

The big top atmosphere of our legislative circus extended to the streets when the elected representatives made a big show of not being able to attend another day of sitting over a report that some in Parliament had tested positive for Covid-19. 

Now, even if one has suspicions of the rather opportune and convenient adjournment, there has to be some form of acknowledgement to the authority granted to the Health Ministry as well as to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that all of us have to live with daily.

These VIPs, perhaps annoyed at the government seemingly bottomless bag of tricks, ran roughshod over most SOPs – “Social distancing? Nah, that’s not for us!” “Quarantining after close contact? Well that’s for the ordinaries”.

There are also politicians being driven here and there for much-publicised hush-hush meetings, when clearly, we have been told that social visits are frowned upon.

Hence, all the table thumping in Parliament in support of the frontliners were mere rhetorics, as when the political urges come along, nothing should be in the way. The optic, as they say these days, does not look good. 

I do believe in the need for the government to prove its legitimacy. The circumstances when it came into power may have been different now. Political realignments, exigencies and circumstances may have changed.

I understand the need for the prime minister to prove that he has enough numbers to keep his government in power. I, too, understand the frustration and desire for some across the aisle to seek remedy for having surrendered power that they had.

But the pandemic is an absolute menace and I am not sure if anything can be improved by endless politicking. Can’t we give it a rest until more people are vaccinated and the Covid numbers are better? We can have an election by then, too. 

We all love our political intrigues, but imagine how destabilising it can be if, indeed, we were to change the government now, with the key people dealing with the health and economic recoveries being replaced as well. What does that say about our priorities?

Anyway, the prime minister is ready to meet his detractors halfway by saying that his support can be tested in Parliament next month. The promise of change can wait a few more weeks, while we rush to vaccinate more. – The Vibes, August 7, 2021

Datuk Zainul Arifin Mohammed Isa is a veteran newsman with more than 35 years in the business. He is executive director of operations at PETRA News