Loyalty and politics

THE 40th United States' President, Ronald Reagan, coined one of the most memorable quotes on loyalty in politics. He coined the rule he called the Eleventh Commandment during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. It reads: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

In his book Frankly Speaking, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Musa Hitam also gave a glimpse in the kind of loyalty expected by Malaysia's fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and I quote, "As prime minister, Mahathir demanded absolute loyalty. Moreover it was loyalty of a personal nature and not at all like the loyalty I believed in. I saw loyalty as being specific to the party, to the position, to the nation, and ultimately, to the rakyat … Dr Mahathir demanded absolute loyalty, insisting that it was the price of good government. He expected one to stay loyal to him, even if he himself acted wrongly. And if his loyal supporters acted wrongly, they would also be forgiven and protected … With Dr Mahathir, loyalty was an obsession - loyalty over performance, loyalty over ability, and loyalty to him as party chief."