APRIL 19 — So Recep Tayyip Erdogan got his wish. His success in the referendum means that Turkey's Constitution will concentrate an unprecedented and ridiculous amount of power in the hands of one man: the president.

What irks me is not so much the referendum, but our own Opposition leader's reaction to it. Dr Wan Azizah's media statement in reaction to the AK Party's success is embarrassing, shortsighted and incredibly hypocritical.

Wan Azizah mentions in her statement “Malaysia's own decades-long battle against the ruling party's kleptocracy, media control, and blatant electoral manipulation.”

Dear Lord, has she not been reading the media reports about what Erdogan has been doing? His persecution of the media, his witch hunt against dissenters and how he is pretty much taking Turkey down a road that will kill any hope of Turkey's membership in the European Union.

Has Wan Azizah not read about the Kurdish struggle? Turkey's constant denial of the Armenian genocide?

How can she laud Turkey as a “role model for the developing world with its consistent exercise of democracy, economic growth and the betterment of the living conditions of its people”?

Turkey's actions in many ways have mirrored our own government's when it comes to dealing with dissent and the press. So, why, Wan Azizah, is it all right for Erdogan to do what you deplore in our own administration? To support and congratulate him for his success in ensuring he can issue decrees of law without Parliamentary approval ― wouldn't you call our prime minister names if he tried to do the same?

Her reaction to the results of the referendum is, sadly, one many Malaysians sympathise with as they perceive Erdogan to be the great defender of Islamic values ― the one who will finally cast aside the perceived heresy that is Turkey's secular Constitution.

There can be no true liberty, when religion is not divorced from government.

There can be no freedoms, when one faith is placed above all others and given protections others do not receive.

There can be no justice, when one creed is considered sacrosanct to the point a Constitution will be changed just to accommodate it.

I think it's time PKR finally stops pretending to be Parti Keadilan Rakyat (The Justice Party); at this rate, there will be no point voting for PKR since it seems to hold ideals that differ little from Umno's as well as being centred around the deification of one man.

I sincerely hope a new party headed by cats and dogs will be formed soon as I think I'd trust a stray animal to lead over a Malaysian.

At least dogs and cats won't care what race or religion you are... as long as they get fed. Maybe I should start stocking up on kibble.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.