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Viral videos sting, but it’s just water off frogs’ backs

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What politicians said then and now are poles apart but Malaysians seem to forget easily when they vote.

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Free Malaysia Today

Each time elected representatives switch allegiances, social media is flooded with video clips of what they preached while still with their original party. The contrast between what they said then and now can be regarded as disgusting by many of us.

When Dr Mahathir Mohamad quit Umno and decided to partner with PKR, DAP and Amanah in 2016, netizens were taken down memory lane with clips showing the leaders of these parties attacking each other fiercely in the past.

The most memorable no-holds barred clips that resurfaced included the unflattering description of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim by Mahathir soon after sacking him as his deputy prime minister in 1998. Just before GE14, he was seen shaking hands with Anwar for his support.

There were also clips that showed Anwar questioning the “unusual” wealth of Mahathir’s clan in public. We were also treated to videos of Mahathir and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang going at each other in the past but sitting on the same stage during the last campaign.

The Barisan Nasional media team must have dug deep in their archives to retrieve these footage.

After the Sheraton move in February last year, Malaysians were again bombarded with videos of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali lambasting their current partners in Perikatan Nasional (PN) from Umno and PAS during the GE14 campaign.

Now, the latest clips that are making their rounds involve Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar after Pakatan Harapan fell, resulting in Xavier losing his ministerial post.

His critics released a clip that he recorded at Parliament before the one-day sitting after PN formed the government. In the three-minute clip, Xavier lambasted the PN government saying: “This Parliament will be rubbish. This Parliament sitting is worthless.”

He went on to allege that this was a charade being played by a bunch of traitors and pirates, in reference to the very leaders whom he now supports.

In another video interview, Xavier is seen condemning the culture of party-hopping, saying it’s treacherous and that an anti-hopping law is seriously needed.

Just a few months later, it was he who hopped to share the bed with PN, a coalition he had described as a backdoor government.

Shockingly, Azmin even tweeted “thanks to Allah, more to come” after Xavier quit PKR. Thanking God for such an immoral act is quite unbelievable, to me at least.

Last month after Sabah’s Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A Gani Pg Amir quit Warisan to back the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah ruling coalition, a clip showing him taking a solemn oath in the name of Allah that he would not switch parties after he was elected under the Warisan ticket, made its rounds.

Pejuang’s Mukhriz Mahathir said recently that even swearing on the Quran by PPBM candidates before GE14 did not work.

Some of us wonder how these politicians can blithely and shamelessly ignore all the mockery that they are subjected to on social media.

But one thing is for sure. The benchmark for political integrity is just way too low in Malaysia.

And guess who allows them this luxurious latitude to hop in and out?

I would say you and me. We the voters are the culprits. We seem to allow these politicians with such low morals to return to power.

 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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