The Perak Conspiracy...Pt 3

So now, the BN had all their pieces in place. So, how did the conspiracy actually unfold?

Here's a timeline of events, and reasoned guess-timate of the possible behind-the-scenes happenings:

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January 25th:

Nasaruddin announces his defection from UMNO to PKR. He is apparently disgruntled about UMNO and taking heed of the rakyat's shift of support towards PR. He promises to resign from UMNO the next day. Anwar hails his move as a reflection of the electorate's aspirations, and promises more defections to come.

Alarm bells should have been ringing. Nasaruddin announced that he was quitting UMNO because he wasn't "getting the love" he wanted. But he had NOT submitted his resignation yet. And he jumped because he felt could "get the love" in PKR. This shows his opportunistic thinking, running to where the gravy was promised.

Such typical corrupt UMNO thinking has no place in the movement for change. Also, can anyone really trust that an UMNO stalwart (who had profited greatly from his position) can magically switch from "money politics cap UMNO" to "reformasi cap PKR"? They didn't switch brains, they just switched parties - different vessels, same shit!

But why did Nasaruddin have to cross over to PKR in the first place? And why did he cross back just days later? Was it really because he was just another opportunistic politician, following his nose to the money? No politician could be THAT dumb! People will remember and he will never be re-elected under any party's banner again!

On hindsight, it is now clear that Nasaruddin was just a Trojan horse. And the fact that he re-defected bears out this theory. Mission accomplished - no need to sandiwara anymore. Shahrir Samad later all but confirms this when he said that Nasaruddin's re-defection was not an issue at all because it was simply a case of UMNO getting their boy back. (Perhaps he will retire from politics come GE13 and go to some kind of UMNO-sponsored paradise.)

It was also crucial that PKR be seen as drawing first blood. UMNO/BN had been roundly condemning Anwar for threatening to seize Federal power via crossovers. (It's interesting that the issue of anti-hopping laws surfaced in the previous weeks. Was it an attempt to distract the target - by pretending to be scared?)

Now that UMNO planned to do the same in Perak, they needed to justify their actions. The Trojan Horse tactic was a master stroke in its deviousness as it crippled the PR's moral authority and focused the blame squarely back on Anwar. This theory is also borne out by Najib's response to a reporter. When asked about the legitimacy of the Perak govt-by-defection, he answered curtly, “Please ask the Pakatan why they started it in the first place!”

This tactic also divided popular opinion. And UMNO/BN thrives on the "divide-and-rule"concept because while the rakyat is distracted in arguing among themselves, they can do pretty much whatever they like.

to be continued...