Coming from Saifuddin Abdullah...

It took some years and a lot of guts for someone to come defending former PM Pak Lah and the Malay organisation Pekida (Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia), stripping both from the 'gangster' label.

But coming from a former BN MP who now joins the rank of a few 'hardcore' opposition leaders leaves us to ponder as to whether Saifuddin Abdullah was being 'neutralised' after losing the general election or being sidelined from Umno.

After criticising the Election Commission (EC)'s bosses as cheating in the last GE, he tried to leverage his good rapport with the likes of Rafizi Ramli and Hishammuddin Rais by stealing the limelight on Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Pekida. 

KUALA LUMPUR: Global Movement of Moderates CEO Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah last night defended former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi against accusations that the latter had links to gangsterism.
“Of course I know of the existence of Pekida. Within them there are different kinds of groups. Even if Pak Lah is Ayahanda of Pekida, he is of the faction that are not gangsters,” said Saifuddin in response to a question from the floor at a post GE13 forum here.
Earlier, co-panelist at the forum activist Hishamuddin Rais claimed that gangs have been an integral part of Malaysian politics since the 60s.
“Gangs have always been organised and funded (by political parties).And it is no surprise that we find that groups like Perkasa is being funded. The don of Pekida is none other than Abdullah himself,” alleged Hishamuddin.
Pekida, an NGO that is known for welfare helping with family weddings and funerals, has long been associated with gangsterism, but the group has denied this, saying that those may be splinter groups.
Federal Territories Pekida advisor Datuk Hamzah Daud recently told online portal FreeMalaysiaToday that there were those who came out from Pekida and used its name to beat people up and extort money.
He stressed that Pekida, in existence since 1967, is a group that does charity work and are made up of volunteers.
“Pekida is like a father. When his sons does bad things, the one that gets a bad name is the father, he said.
Last year, a five-year research by French PhD holder Sophie Lemiere on NGOs such as Pekida found that it were supposedly loyal to royalty, Islam and the Malay community.
However, Lemiere also found that Pekida is part of a complex network of NGOs that “offer political support, legalise part of their activity, and ease the reception of funds from the ruling party.”
Lemiere, from Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast-French National Centre for Scientific Research (IRASEC-CNRS), Paris, also found that “the main objectives of the group is power, profit and money, which imply that members are involved in illegal activities, and may use different degrees of violence."
Her paper, 'Gangsters and Masters: Connivance Militancy in Contemporary Malaysia' was based on research from 2008 to April last year.

I agree that Pekida was not founded on gangsterism but its splinter groups bearing various logos are the ones blamed for 'opposing the one way street', and not being in the Home Ministry's list of 'secret societies' is a proof that Pekida is well-recognised by the country and is free from any wrongdoings.

I just wonder why Saifuddin took that wasted years to defend Pekida and Pak Lah, and not during his tenure as an MP.

And his comments about the Election Commission:

Global Movement of Moderates CEO Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah has called for a new leadership to resuscitate the Election Commission (EC).
The former Temerloh MP and deputy higher education minister, however, stopped short of asking for an immediate resignation by the current EC chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof.
“I think we need a new EC chairman. We need someone who is really passionate. Not someone who is seen as speaking for BN (Barisan Nasional),” said Saifuddin.
“We need someone who both sides are comfortable to sit with at the table,” he said, explaining that it was vital that BN and Pakatan Rakyat leaders are able to be able to discuss the EC's redrawing of constituency boundaries, expected soon.
Reforming the EC was among a few suggestions by Saifuddin, a panellist at the forum ‘The Way Forward for Democracy in the Post GE13 Era’, to strengthen democracy in the country.
He also called for politicians to be more bi-partisan, a more robust parliament with more select committees; and for media freedom.

Not that I dont agree with him (for a few aspects) but he sounds more like a sourgrape of late...