COMMENT | Is honesty still a part of politics?

COMMENT | Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Rashid Hasnon was recently caught on camera eating durians with a large group of people at a durian feast and the photos went viral.

After insisting that it was an “old video”, he has finally admitted to the offence and apologised for violating the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the total lockdown, thanks to the netizens who dissected visuals of the video frame by frame, forcing him to come clean.

Rashid isn’t alone. Political dishonesty is common. As long as politicians win in an election and stay in power, dishonesty is somehow justified and becomes the core mechanism of their survival.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed fudged about handing over power to Anwar Ibrahim. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang gave his blessings for party youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Aziz to deny accepting RM90 million from Umno. Former deputy foreign minister Marzuki Yahya claims to having a degree from Cambridge. I can go on, but you get the point - dishonesty flows thick in politicians.

I don’t know about you, but what frustrates me the most is the fact that the ones dishonest are the very people who actually pass the laws that require us, the common folks, to be honest - pay penalties for violating laws, pay your taxes...