Of War And Politics

Of War And Politics

Shortly after the Perak affair commenced, I was at an open house function and met a man of influence. In the course of our conversation, he informed me that he had graduated from the Royal Military College. Not surprisingly, the situation in Perak came up. We spoke about the disappearance, and subsequent reappearance, of the three controversial former opposition members and the move to take over the state government by the Barisan Nasional and the Sultan’s refusal to dissolve the Legislative Assembly and soon found ourselves pondering the ethical dimension of what had transpired. At one point, perhaps because of his background, he said. “Politics is like war, all’s fair. We must expect it to get bloody.”

I understood what he meant.

It could be said that political campaigns have to be strategized like military campaigns. There has to be an objective, thought must be given to the resources available for deployment and tactics planned with a view to achieving that objective using those resources. In this, one can expect bloodshed as such is the nature of war. Losses are anticipated, even acceptable, as a factor that informs the overall strategy.

The analogy is however only apt at a superficial level. When causes and methods are considered more closely, it is obvious that they are vastly different.

Wars must only be waged for lawful cause and in a lawful manner. The United Nations Charter limits such cause to self-defence though there is an argument to be made that customary international law has expanded the scope of justifiable conflict to include humanitarian intervention such as was seen in the Balkan conflict. Further, the Geneva Conventions and other treaties put in place the rules by which wars are to be fought by reference to what is permissible and what is not. Such wars are that are fought for legitimate cause in a permissible manner are just wars, and for that are events of honour. Those who fight them are honourable.

Politics is however by its nature far from honourable. In this we must understand that a distinction has to be drawn between a cause for which politics is enlisted and politics itself for there may be noble causes in whose aid politics is enlisted.

Political campaigns are not aimed at self-defence, their twin objectives being self-promotion and the disabling of a political opponent with a view to furthering self-interest. This opponent is not necessarily someone from another organization, as political causes involve fighting friends as much as it does enemies. Loyalty and honour have very little to do with anything; they could in some situations even be obstacles to the political process. This has been more so in recent times; those politicians who have stuck to principle and been content to let action speak louder than words have suffered politically for the fact.

Where political hegemony is involved, the difference is even starker. This allows for control of the “system” and the hijacking of governance. In having such control, political objectives do not have to be achieved for lawful purpose or in a lawful manner and the ends will always justify the means.

For all of this and more, politics is not like war. To draw the comparison is to do an injustice to, even insult, those brave men and women in the Malaysian armed forces. They are patriots who, unseen, keep this nation and our way of life safe.

In contrast, save for small minority, our politicians worship at the altar of personal ambition and routinely sacrifice principle for gain. Were it otherwise and politicians understood that being elected to office was a way in which they could truly serve this nation things would be very different. For a start, the Internal Security Act and a host of anti-democratic laws would no longer be on the books, institutions that we have every right to expect to act without fear or favour would be left alone to act as they should, and we would be hopeful for our interests being looked after as they should.

Democracy was never meant to be a ladder for ambitious politicians. Its elections were aimed at ensuring that the rakyat were able to vote to office capable representatives who understood them best and who would do what was necessary to protect their interests and those of the nation. These elected representatives were intended to be the voices of reason that would help shape this nation and point it in the right direction for its journey into our collective future.

Encouraged by a lack of accountability, in the hands of our politicians democracy has become a spectator sport, a winner-take-all gladiatorial blood-fest in which the rules themselves have become weapons in the hands of oppressors who prey on the weak and vulnerable.

In the political feeding frenzy that has taken centre stage, it is the person on the street who suffers the most. Though we tend to blame this on the politicians, we overlook that politicians have been able to get away with what they do for one reason: at some point we stopped caring that our politics lacked ethical foundation. We were satisfied as long as we had opportunity to enlist politics for our individual benefit. Those who did not were dismissed in our minds as acceptable collateral damage.

In doing so, we became a part of the problem.

Politics like war? It would be more in our interests if that were so as limits would be respected and actions circumscribed by honour. However, until we take ourselves out of the equation and look to the nation’s interests, that will never be the case.

(Malay Mail; 10th March 2009)

MIS