Pakatan Rakyat’s much dangled Buku Jingga comes into disrepute when its pledges of "practising complete transparency of government and information" and "implementation of Freedom of Information Enactments" are once again proven beguiling to score votes but rendered meaningless in actuality with the latest gag order issued by PAS against Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak in his handling of the suspension of five Kolej Universiti Insaniah (KUIN) students.

This decree to turn mute is the easiest method employed to avoid addressing the issue and facing the underlying currents of discontent by students, misled voters over the KUIN suspension and worse still, disappointment over broken promises. Thus all is nothing more but exaggeration with no attempt to practise.

Azizan’s claims of receiving a gag order from his party is only one of the many series of gag orders issued by Pakatan Rakyat leaders to their own members over 3 years since their massive victory in 2008 in an attempt to try to maintain their facade of transparency and freedom of speech.

· In Penang, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng issued a gag order on the debacle between DAP members Jeff Ooi and Wong Hon Wai on the allocation of low-medium cost housing in Penang

· In Johor, a gag order was issued when seat negotiations between DAP Johor and PKR Johor collapsed

· Gag orders were also issued to cover up the scandals involving DAP Perak secretary Nga Kor Ming wife’s company obtaining tailoring contracts and Selangor EXCO Ronnie Liu’s letterhead being misused to obtain contracts for family members of former Klang council member Tee Boon Hock

· Both the state governments of Penang and Kedah banned selected media from covering their events as they were deemed pro-Barisan Nasional

For the Opposition coalition which apparently implored freedom of expressions and all the democratic ideals, the instruction for lips to be tightly sealed is just another sample of easy preaching without the need to practice. What more, when feeble excuses like KUIN as a private state-run university does not fall under the Universities and University Colleges Act are prodded to justify upholding the suspensions despite PKR communication director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s rebuttal against it, only to have PKR ketua umum ala Anwar Ibrahim sanction the suspensions. It seems more of PKR caving in to PAS, rather than addressing the issue of failed promises.

Non-compliance of the Buku Jingga is already practised with excuses conveniently resorted to in Pakatan-run states. These all point to the future, where Pakatan promises made will be predictably reneged upon; excerpts from the Buku Jingga or common policy framework which DAP, PAS and PKR and signed in agreement in black and while will be nothing more than theory.

(The views expressed above belongs to the author in its entirety and does not represent the opinion of Malaysian Mirror in any way)