Crunch time for Pakatan Rakyat
Comment by Baradan Kuppusamy (The Star)
Almost a year after it made major gains in the country’s political landscape, the Pakatan alliance is facing its most trying time yet.
February, the shortest of the months, may well be the cruelest yet for Pakatan Rakyat, which has faced one setback after another – defeats that have sparked division in its ranks and tension among its leadership.
At a Pakatan dinner on Feb 20, organised to celebrate one year in power and titled Harapan Baru (New Hope), there was bitterness even from Pakatan supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who apologised several times after showing unbridled anger at the way Pakatan had been up-handed.
Like other Pakatan leaders, Anwar too blamed all their setbacks as “machinations” of Barisan Nasional and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The resurgent wave that saw a sterling start for the coalition on March 8 last year and the successful formation of five Pakatan-ruled state governments might be cooling a year on.
Although subsequent to March 8, Pakatan won the Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu by-elections, this month it lost one of the jewels in its crown, the state of Perak, when three of its elected assemblymen resigned from the coalition’s component parties and pledged their support to Barisan.
The Perak debacle is now mired in the courts and will take months to unravel, if at all, and in the meantime, Barisan is running the state and making all the executive decisions.
Only the lone Pakatan office bearer – Perak Speaker S. Sivakumar – is standing in the way of Barisan taking full control of the state.
As one Pakatan leader said, tongue-in-cheek, “We might have lost the state government but we still control the legislative assembly!”
For all intents and purposes, Pakatan has lost Perak, a state they ruled in an exemplary manner until they were undone after failing to coop all their hens.
Following that debacle and in rapid succession, other scandals hit Pakatan.
In Kedah, state exco member V. Arumugam staged the now familiar “I have resigned” disappearing act, forcing a by-election in Bukit Selambau.
Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong followed with an “I am quitting all posts”, and left the country after photographs of her semi-naked were distributed by unknown persons to the media, which went to town with the story, effectively ending her budding career.
As in Bukit Selambau, Pakatan faces another by-election in Wong’s Bukit Lanjan state seat.
Lately, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has been embroiled in a “cows and car” controversy, and possibly might be charged with abuse of power or corruption, which would make his position as mentri besar untenable.
Naming a new mentri besar will not be an easy task, with three disparate political parties in Pakatan staking claim and with the palace having a big say as before.
Topping the spate of bad news for Pakatan is the unexpected by-election in Batang Ai in Sarawak following the death of incumbent Datuk Dublin Unting on Tuesday.
It is bad news because it comes at a time when Anwar, although gaining popularity in Sarawak, is still not prepared for an acid test in a state he had repeatedly said he would win by 2010; victory that would pave the way for him to take control of the Federal Government and become prime minister.
Serious infighting within Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat, between PKR’s Chinese leaders and the DAP who both want to set and dominate the Sarawak agenda, is festering and could explode despite constant mediation by Anwar.
The next three months will be long and hectic for Anwar and the coalition he leads. Keeping the political momentum would tax his energies and political skills to the maximum.
Anwar is no stranger to setbacks and his long career, starting as a student rebel in the 1970s, is nothing but a series of great comebacks after serious setbacks.
While Anwar might excel at politics, it is the bread-and-butter issues in a slowing economy that is beginning to dominate the minds of people.
Across the political divide, Umno is gaining strength after a series of defeats and the potential is there for the party to unite anew under a new leader in Najib, and possibly regain its pole position.
Like Anwar, Najib, too, has a tough job ahead – taking charge of a new Umno, fighting the by-elections, keeping Pakatan at bay, managing race relations and preventing the economy from sinking.
Despite deepening economic woes, politics will dominate the weeks ahead, what with sex scandals, corruption charges and four by-elections to contend with.
