Pakatan Rakyat and Criticism

I'm writing this with the feeling that my belief that there's an alternative politics in Malaysia might be just an idealistic thinking based on empty hope with no concrete chance of materialising in the near future. That's as optimistic as I can be without being naive. Why the sudden feeling is caused by recent events unfolding in the Pakatan camp that's showing signs that probably there's no "good politics", just bad ones, that Pakatan are just like BN with another name.

Firstly, I will touch on PAS and the developments in Kelantan. The recent resignation of Ariffahmi from kelantan Menteri Besar Incorporated as CEO after criticism on the handling of project Bazar To Guru which cause the state to pay compensation amounting to RM23 Million to a private company showed me that nepotism, cronyism and incompetence are alive and well in Pakatan.

It's to be noted that Ariffahmi is the son-in-law of the Menteri Besar Nik Aziz,( isn't that nepotism)so what's the difference with that of Khairy Jamaludin during Pak Lah's tenure as PM, the opposition did used him to highlight nepotism in the BN camp. Then, there's the cronyism part when someone by the name of Nudin Awang who is said to be a company director which gained from Timber contracts from the state, that he supposedly almost sponsor a Haj trip for Nik Aziz.

Isn't just like the days of Pak Lah where those close to him will benefit economically, so what is Pakatan doing to differentiate themselves from BN, so far from their actions they are showing that they are just like BN.

Then we'll go to DAP and access Lim Guang Eng's stewardship of the state. It's learnt to my dismay that he's chairing the tender board in the state, therefore he will have plenty of say which company receives what projects. Isn't that the same with BN, when the minister or some big guns have a say on which company receives what projects. To make it worst, he's has shown a lack of openness as any criticism will be followed by denial and branding of ''UMNO mentality" and so on.

If I remember correctly that is painfully similar to how UMNO reacts to criticism. Where's the change?

Finally, to PKR, Anuar inability to silence Zukifli is because of his political value to the party was similar to the act of UMNO not taking tough action against Ali Rustam and fielding Isa Samad in the Bangan Pinang by-election. PKR claimed lack of political will on behalf of UMNO to take such action and now, are they going to do the same thing, are they lacking the much needed political will as they seemed to shout reform and reform requires a lot of political will as backlash from those comfortable with the status quo is expected.

So if they are the same with UMNO in their level of political will, can they bring the much needed reform? I doubt it.

In conclusion, all the component parties in Pakatan must buck up or face the possibility of being a '' one term wonder" as Lim Kit Siang puts it. Focus now must be differentiating themselves from BN which requires them to behave differently in a positive manner. They must show the willingness to risk political backlash for the sake of the country not to mention except personal pain especially when it comes to dealing with family and friends in politics.

Only when they can show me that willingness, then I can believe that this is indeed ''Change We Can Believe In" quoting from Obama's campaign slogan. I'm an Optimist, I believe that one day I'll be writing to say that " Yes We Can"( again Obama's slogan), until then, good luck my beloved country.

Purification of PKR

Recently, as a PKR supporter, one cannot help to notice that PKR is in no shape to head the coalition that governs the country. The party seems to be in a state of disarray, confused and losing confidence in the leadership and the party's struggle. Recent outburst by it's MPs like Zukifli Noordin and Zahrain Hashim is prime example of the state PKR is in right now. Rumours have it that later is said to have some MPs to back him in supporting BN so that the BN will regained the 2/3 majority in Parliament allowing them to make constitutional amendments as it pleased.

Based on my personal observation, the main reason for the party current state may be because of the mixed political struggle that the members are carrying out. As we know, PKR mainly consist of UMNO, ABIM( Angkatan belia Islam Malaysia), PRM( Parti Rakyat Malaysia) former members and the liberal/reform minded individuals.

The wide array of political ideologies in PKR can be seen as UMNO beliefs in Malay agenda, ABIM beliefs in an Islamic agenda, PRM beliefs in Socialist agenda and of course the liberals/reformist belief in liberal and reform agenda. So the former members are bringing their former party's struggle inside PKR causing such friction to take place which lead to PKR's current state of disarray causing confusion on what PKR trully stands for.

My suggestion is that PKR purify itself by firstly:

1)Informing all members at all levels about what PKR truly stands for. It's primary objective must be communicated to it's members so the will know where PKR is taking them.
2)The struggle of their former party should be discarded and replaced with that of PKR. Failure to do so will lead to punishment.
3)Candidates that represent the party struggle should be fielded in elections, not the individuals that still carry their former party's ideology.
4)Just like a corporation must have a corporate culture, PKR should strive for one as the party's lack of it is causing cultures from their members former parties to take hold causing PKR to behave like UMNO and the rest, rather than having a distinctive code of behaviour that can be indentifiable and represents the party.
5) New members must be informed of what PKR stands for before admission and trained mentally and emotionally to breath the struggle of PKR.
6)Members who refuse to adhere to the party's struggle should be sidelined or kicked out.


That's the only way PKR can produce leaders that can carry out the party's struggle. Simply saying PKR is for reform is not enough anymore. Reform is such a subjective word. It has many meanings such as reform to a more hardcore malay nationalistic stand, Islamist reform and so on. So elaborating on what reforms PKR is fighting for will be essential for the party as it gives leaders, members and voters a sense of direction by identifying themselves to the party.

However, it's essential that PKR remain a party that beliefs in diversity in thought and action, meaning that despite your ideological leaning being difference from that of PKR, the party will still welcome you and value your input but you must respect the position of PKR as a whole so that PKR will not be heavily bias towards it's struggle to the extent that they become a radical party such as UMNO and their Malay Supremacy struggle.

By weighing in different views and courses of action, PKR will remain a party that strive for moderation despite having an ideology as a guideline to the party's struggle so that it's beliefs, actions and policies can be accepted by all Malaysians regardless of political beliefs and social positions.

Fianlly, I hope that PKR can settle this major problem besetting them so that the confidence of the members and voters not only in PKR but also Pakatan Rakyat can be restored. Only then can PKR talk about genuine reform in a clear cut manner without subjecting themselves to inhibition due to the concern of possible reactions from members and voters as members and voters know what to expect from the party. The call of Reformasi must go on nonetheless, as touted by many PKR and Pakatan Rakyat leaders ''Perjuangan Mesti Diteruskan", and by that I hope that indeed that is the truth.

Everyone Wants To Be a Hero

Since the recent national outburst over the usage of the word ''Allah" for non-Muslims, many opportunistic individuals especially politicians decided to take this golden opportunity to be a hero despite the fact that their action was damaging to the state of security of our nation.

UMNO via one of it's wings decided to host a nationwide protest in mosques and so on to protest this decision, why not, this is the time for the party to show it's core supporter, the Malays,who are mainly Muslims who is the true defender of Islam, not PAS who is working for DAP to undermine Malays and Islam, UMNO is the one, true defender of Malay interests which includes the position of Islam in this country.

Their action was no surprise to me, as they are expected to do so as that is their official stand is that the word ''Allah" can only be use for Muslims as not doing so may cause confusion among Muslims and being a political party that UMNO is, of course they must show how they are willing to fight for their stand.

However what came as a surprise was the spat between PKR Kulim MP Zuklifle Nordin and PAS Shah Alam MP over the issue, more so the action of Zuklifle who went against the party's official stand which the word''Allah'' can be used but must not be misused, not to mention the official stand of Pakatan Rakyat as a whole. He wants to show he is a hero so much that he actually made a police report against his Pakatan comrade despite the many reports already been made by some NGO's, despite the fact that his action went against the coalition common framework policy that strive for unity when it comes to support of such issue.

Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers must strive to be a team player, not only inter-party but at the same time intra-party between it's coalition partners. This was Barisan Nasional strenght. One must remember how with the spirit of give and take, UMNO sat down with MCA and MIC to form this beloved nation of ours despite the political rhetoric such as Ketuanan Melayu and so on.

Therefore it is wise for Pakatan to adopt such practice, although this fact seems obvious to the top leadership to a certain extent, it remains illusive among grassroots members, thus this must be incultivated among the grassroots members so that the cohesiveness of the coalition can be accomplished.

Back to the being a hero part of the equation, the ''heroic" act of some lead to the burning of places of worship in many parts of this country that threatens peace and stability of this nation. The right course of action may not be heroic, but it is the right one that is to remain calm and propagate the use of reason and inclusive debate to achieve a consensus as only by doing that the nation can remain peaceful at the physical and emotional level.

In conclusion, Malaysians must resist the temptation to be a hero. Let the experts decide on the issue as only by doing so can we arrive at the right decision and not the emotional one while rejecting extremist behaviours in any form that can undermine the harmony of the various races in this country so that we can all live peacefully and bury the racial and religious ghost that have been haunting us that is worsening the polarisation of the people of Malaysia so that we can return back to the golden days in terms of race relations pre- May 13. Doing so with no doubt will benefit all of us, irrespective of race and religion. That is the real heroic thing to do.