"What does doing a Syriza mean?", you ask.
Well, back in July 2015, Greece's "radical left" Syriza government betrayed the Greek people's vote by 61% in a referendum which said "no" to further neo-liberal, globalist austerity measures imposed upon them by the European Union.
However, a week later, the Syriza government yielded to European Union pressure and agreed to accept more austerity measures to be imposed on Greece and her suffering people - doing a 180 degrees U-turn against what Syriza had been voted in for, and 180 degrees opposite what the Greek people had voted for.
On 11 July 2015 the BBC put it very nicely:-
Just over a week ago, Alexis Tsipras stepped on to a podium in Syntagma Square in Athens. In his trademark open-necked white shirt, his sleeves rolled up, he punched the air.
"I call on you to say a big 'no' to ultimatums, 'no' to blackmail," he cried. "Turn your back on those who would terrorise you."
His thousands of fans roared in approval. The Greek public followed his lead and 61% voted "oxi" ("No").
Roll forward seven days and Greece's prime minister signed the very measures he had fought against. Corporate tax and VAT will rise, privatisations will be pursued, public sector pay lowered and early retirement phased out.
In a late-night speech to parliament, a chastened Alexis Tsipras compared negotiations to a war, in which battles are fought and lost.
"It is our national duty to keep our people alive and in the eurozone", he said. There was not a fist-punch in sight.
The old adage of a week being a long time in politics could not be more relevant. But even for us Greece-watchers, the past few days have left us scratching our heads.
Thus since then, I coined the term "doing a Syriza" to mean elected leaders of governments which betray the will of the people who had voted for them.
More recently, we have seen the both the Conservative government and opposition Labour parliamentarians join hands to try and do a Syriza upon the British people's referendum choice that the United Kingdom leave the European Union of what's popularly known as "Brexit".
Oh! how people loved how U.K. parliamentary speaker John Bercow said "Or-d-e-e-e-e-e-e-r!"
It's great that the Conservatives and Labour got hammered in the U.K. local elections.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VagWy8t60mg
However, the problem is that the Liberal Democrats (Lib-Dems) are opposed to Brexit.
We believe that Britain is better off in the EU. That's why we're fighting for an Exit from Brexit.
https://www.libdems.org.uk/brexit
Anyway, closer to home, the Pakatan state governments of Penang and Selangor had been doing a Syriza on the people of these states since they were elected to power back in March 2008 and the Syriza show" has continued not only in Penang and Selangor but also under the Pakatanfederal government since 10th May 2018.
You can read Anil Netto's blog posts about the issues they face with the Pakatan Harapan state government of Penang and the "development" which has been allowed up there since Pakatan won Penang in 2008, whilst I focus on issues in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Just yesterday I posted a blog about what Petaling Jaya activist resident Mak Khuin Weng said about how the Pakatan state government of Selangor has been doing a Syriza on us people.
In the Free Malaysia Today article of 4 May 2019 below, Derek Fernandez, Petaling Jaya City Councillor for Zon 12 (Section 5 and 10) 2018/2020, critises the Federal Territories Ministry and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for continuing to make it difficult for residents of Kuala Lumpur to obtain critical reports and documents, such as the development impact proposal report and the traffic impact assessment report, among others.
Here, Kuala Lumpur members of parliament and Kuala Lumpur residents, such as those of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa, who had gone to court to get a ruling which would require that the relevant authorities make such documents available to the public who needed them, so that they can present their case in a meaningful way under Rule 5 of the Federal Territory Planning Act 1982, which allows public participation in areas of planning and development control.
The court had ruled in the residents' favour but now the Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL have appealed the court's ruling.
Before the 9th May 2018 general elections, the Pakatan Harapan which was then in opposition, condemned the Federal Territories Ministry and the ruling Barisan Nasional government which it came under, for denying public access to such key information and Pakatan had promised to "uphold principles that were 'essential to competency, accountability and transparency' if elected", whatever that political gibberish means.
However now, that Pakatan Harapan had won the Federal Government almost a year ago, and by that control of the Federal Territories Ministry and the DBKL, they have continued to do the same as had been done under Barisan Nasional rule.
Basically, after all their election promises to be a "government for the people" if elected, now that they have been elected, the Pakatan Harapan state government of Selangor and the Pakatan Harapan federal government of Malaysia have been doing several Syrizas on us the people.
The Free Malaysia Today article referred to follows below:-
Nothing's changed, says expert after DBKL appeals court decision favouring residents
FMT Reporters -
May 4, 2019 2:31 PM
PETALING JAYA: A local government expert has slammed the Federal Territories ministry and City Hall (DBKL) over the latter's decision to appeal a court's decision that would grant Taman Tiara Titiwangsa residents access to important documents.
Derek Fernandez said prior to the May 9 polls, Pakatan Harapan MPs in Kuala Lumpur attacked the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the former FT minister after residents were denied access to critical reports and documents, such as the development impact proposal report and the traffic impact assessment report, among others.
He said this led to KL MPs and many KL residents to claim that they were denied a fair hearing when objecting to development projects.
Fernandez said subsequently, many KL MPs promised residents in the capital that if PH won, they would uphold principles that were "essential to competency, accountability and transparency".
"This is the mantra PH repeatedly chanted when in the opposition, with their war cry of 'Reformasi' and 'Ubah' in governance," he said in a statement.
But DBKL, Fernandez said, is now appealing a decision of the Court of Appeal which held that residents have a right to such documents which were denied to them during the BN administration because of abuses by the previous administration.
"This shows clearly to KL residents that nothing has really changed and it is business as usual as far as the Federal Territories ministry and DBKL is concerned."
On March 13, the Court of Appeal nullified a public objection hearing on a high-density project in Taman Tiara Titiwangsa awarded to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP).
The court accepted the residents' argument that they were unable to present their case in a meaningful way under Rule 5 of the Federal Territory Planning Act 1982, which allows public participation in areas of planning and development control.
The residents said DBKL failed to give a detailed explanation of the project and did not meet their request for disclosure of technical reports such as those related to the project's impact on traffic flow and social well-being.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad has since defended the DBKL decision to take the matter to the Federal Court, saying it was a legal dispute.
"This is not a question of politics. DBKL will still need to follow the legal procedures," he was reported to have said.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/05/04/nothings-changed-says-expert-after-dbkl-appeals-court-decision-favouring-residents/
C'mon Derek, whack the Selangor state government and the Petaling Jaya City Council publicly as strongly as you have done the Pakatan Harapan controlled Federal Territories Ministry and the DBKL above.
Whack the Petaling Jaya City Council publicly for allowing the continuation of rampant high-rise development in Petaling Jaya which could either lead to lot of unsold or unoccupied properties on the one hand or to massive traffic congestion on the streets if they are occupied.
Whack them publicly for the potholed and uneven roads which we suffering residents of Petaling Jaya have had to endure all these years.
Whack them publicly for our dubious "honour" of having the highest rates of dengue in the country.
Whack them publicly for the high density transit-oriented developments (ToD) projects approved in and around Petaling Jaya and in Selangor.
Whack them for not providing enough recreational parks, green spaces and tree-lined roads for us the Petaling Jaya and Selangor public.
Whack the Selangor state government publicly over the water problems especially those of us on higher ground, such as some residents in Section 14 Petaling Jaya are facing.
Whack the Selangor state government for allowing the Damansara-Shah Alam elevated Highway (DASH) to run through Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara despite residents' repeated demands that DASH should be routed away from their residential and commercial area.
Yours trully
Selangor Scheiss
http://selangorscheiss.blogspot.com/
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