At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice.
– Gore Vidal, American writer and public intellectual
As soon as news broke that former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was detained by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), the social media had a meltdown.
People left and right, from each and every corner of the country spoke their mind, their topic of discussion was best summed up in two words – political persecution.
Some were of the opinion that the government is going after the leaders of the opposition – Perikatan Nasional (PN) – which Muhyiddin is the chairman of, for political reasons.
Some felt there is probably merit in the charges that the MACC wouldn’t simply act without concrete evidence.
Some just felt that, this tale, that has been unveiled before us, is one that is all too familiar.
This was exactly what happened to the sixth prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak shortly after Barisan Nasional’s (BN) loss in the 14th general election (GE14).
I think no one could forget the raid that was conducted in his home during the fasting month and all the items seized were paraded for all of Malaysia to see on television.
There was no love lost for Najib. No one, bar fellow UMNO party comrades, screamed political persecution. No one, gave him the benefit of doubt.
Most probably the elder among us would remember that current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had his share of mistreatment at the end of the 1990s.
The then deputy prime minister went to jail and Keadilan, the party – which is arguably the current backbone to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition – was born.
Then you would have Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the current deputy prime minister. He has had his gruelling days in court for his corruption trial.
There was little sympathy for both Anwar and Zahid either.
What I’m saying is that political persecution (or even the perception of it) is becoming the norm rather than the exception – and that is sad.
Because, what it does is it tarnishes the image of the investigating bodies such as MACC and the judiciary – being perceived as tools for its political masters.
We should not compromise on this principle – that is we must reject all forms of political persecution, not only speaking against it when it suits our interests and even turning a blind eye to it, when it doesn’t.
Sure, it is the best defence of a political party, in this case, PN, Bersatu and PAS to label charges against Muhyiddin as “political persecution”, communications and public relations wise.
It does rile up the party base, drumming up support from grassroots and winning sympathy points from fence sitters.
But then again could these supporters – and by extension, the rest of the country who believed it was political persecution, extend that benefit of doubt to other leaders from opposing parties who are facing similar legal troubles?
“Of course not. Because the people from the other side is guilty as charged without evidence or trial.” That is the possible line of thinking.
That is because people, by nature jump to conclusions where high-profile leaders attending trials in court in itself is as good as a guilty confession.
Perhaps it is their lack of understanding in how the legal system works or ignorance or intense brainwashing, but it shows that we are far from qualified to make judgements.
As of now, the TikTok platform – which has been the topic of contention for the explosion that is right-leaning creators and contents in GE15 – is heavily promoting this political persecution narrative.
There are quarters who are trying to exploit such to negate public perception, putting a spin on the current turn of events.
By the looks of it, these creators spent a good deal of time to push their videos round the clock almost as if it’s the general election again.
Because what prevails in the end is what the people think and with the six state elections looming this year, anyone worth their salt would want to capitalise on that. Because if we were to bank on one thing, it is that opinions, convictions and beliefs could be manipulated rather easily, especially the young when online.
The last election results were a testament to that along with the less than civil discussions that are happening on the web, not to mention the naive, absurd and half-witted comments.
While corruption trials can be won in the courtroom, the real battle I think, is in court of public opinion. Everyone is trying to win that.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
