SEPTEMBER 8 — Even by the generally entertaining standards of Malaysian politics, the developments of the last few weeks have been eye-poppingly farcical.

First was the spectacle of community volunteers who have been apparently publicly helping the Penang police for the last five years being arrested by the same police for taking the law into their own hands, on Merdeka Day itself.

This was followed by a law professor being arrested for having a legal opinion, a journalist arrested for reporting the news and sundry opposition politicians being charged with sedition for, well, making opposition-like statements.

PPS members, clad in their purple T-shirts, were taken to the Beach Street police station after they finished the march past in the Merdeka parade, on August 31, 2014. — Picture courtesy of Sim Tze Tzin

All using a law that the government keeps threatening to repeal, but somehow winds up using all the time because its very vagueness allows for just about anybody with an opinion to be charged.

On the other side, ignoring the sage advice of this columnist given here, the opposition lurches from one self-inflicted blow to the next as a result of the brilliantly executed Kajang Move.

Even the two architects of the move, after giving multiple reasons as to how this would lead Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya, seems to have given up and retreated into a sulk after watching the antics of some of their colleagues from PAS.

Meanwhile the loony fringe is still foaming at the mouth over pendatangs and Ketuanan Melayu, while still others are forming NGOs at the rate of one a minute to either save the now lame duck MB’s job, repeal the Sedition Act, retain the Sedition Act or whatever else catches their fancy.

An ex minister warns of a boycott of the leading English language daily for its temerity in promoting a “Brave Views. Bold Ideas.” campaign, terming the paper anti-Malay and anti-Islam. The paper ironically is owned by the ruling coalition.

All in all, what should have been a period of consolidating the economic gains of the past quarter and moving the political discourse to bread and butter issues such as rising inflation and growing income disparities has been hijacked by the onset of the silly season in politics.

At least in the case of Umno, there could be a reason for all the strong-arm tactics. Its approaching general assembly is generally the time for it to up its rhetoric on protecting the rights of the Malays, royalty and Islam and for leaders to showcase their hard line credentials.

But apart from vague innuendos and allusions to disciplinary problems, PKR has been unable to present anything close to a coherent argument for removing its own MB in Selangor. Being unable to reach a consensus within the coalition on the reasons for his removal or on the replacement, it has opened up PR to a slew of accusations, all of them unsavoury.

While Barisan is increasingly seen to be just Umno and some hangers on, Pakatan now does not even seem to be a coalition, just a bunch of self-serving politicians with very distinct agendas, only coming together in the pursuit of power.

The biggest casualty of these shenanigans is the aspirations of ordinary people for a more responsible polity that puts their welfare first. But arguably the greater betrayal is that of the Pakatan voter. While some Barisan voters may worry about the return to a more authoritarian time, the performance of Umno in the last GE is testimony to the appeal of its Malay supremacist rhetoric to its core support base.

Pakatan supporters though, being more urban and generally better educated and informed, in general expect a higher standard of probity and performance from their representatives. The Selangor debacle has left them wondering if there is any cause left for such an expectation.

Perceptions of nepotism, cronyism, bigotry and the culture of “who you know” now look like a general political trait rather than that of any one political coalition.

In this rather depressing scenario for those in the electorate looking for political reform, there was a small bit of good news advocating positive change. The launch of the FitMalaysia campaign, long overdue in a nation with alarming obesity levels, is an example of action we can all support.  While waiting for a return to more rational politics, it’s time to get moving on making a change that always pays off; getting healthy.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.