An important day for Pakatan, PAS and Malaysia
The scandal-plagued and under-performing PM has recently been casting lures to PAS, offering a Malay-based power pact that would sideline other races including the non-Malay components within his own BN coalition.
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
Today is a key day for Malaysian politics.
Not only will PAS have its internal meeting to sort out differences over unity talks with Umno-BN, but more importantly, the Pakatan Rakyat top leadership council will also meet.
There – Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Hadi Awang are expected to uphold their key platform of unity in diversity – the plank that attracted Malaysians into giving them the lion’s share of the popular vote and control of five states in the 2008 general election.
They are expected to outright reject the politics of racism and roundly condemn Prime Minister Najib Razak for trying to create a wedge between the ethnic groups.
The scandal-plagued and under-performing PM has recently been casting lures to PAS, offering a Malay-based power pact that would sideline other races including the non-Malay components within his own BN coalition.
Leaders from PKR, DAP and PAS have already slammed last week’s controversial call from Najib’s deputy Muhyiddin Yassin for urgent talks, saying the haste reflected the growing weakness of the top Umno leadership.
Still, his supporters have not given up and have rushed to ‘save-face’ – helped by the slew of misinformation from their media.
Perhaps the comment that sums up their desperation came from Najib’s own mentor, ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
“We don’t even know the opinion of our own Umno members,” Mahathir said on Friday..
“Are we going to leave out our peers in Barisan to form a 100% bumiputra government? If we go ahead and do that, we are going to have a racial confrontation and that’s not healthy for the country.
“I think the country doesn’t want a 100% bumiputra government.
“We’ve always had a division of authority with Barisan’s component parties. Why must we abandon them just for the sake of forming a government that spells racism? It (unity government) will only burden the rakyat.”
What next?
Nevertheless, what Dr M said is not going to stop Najib from trying to push through a pact with PAS because on it hinges his own personal political survival.
What can stop him though is a clear and distinct rejection from PAS and its partners PKR and DAP.
“The purpose of today’s meeting is to harmonize Pakatan’s response on the unity government. We will also discuss strategy to try to turn this to the advantage of Malaysians as a whole, “ said PKR strategic affairs director Tian Chua.
“Pakatan leaders’ foremost task and greatest challenge at the leadership council meeting is to assure these architects of the 2008 political tsunami that they had not made the wrong choice,” said Kit Siang.
Despite the prodding from the Umno-BN press, even at the worst of times there has been no thought among the Pakatan top leadership that the coalition will split and go their own.
Kit Siang said as much on Sunday when he turned down a foolishly-worded offer from MCA president Ong Tee Keat to meet up to discuss Chinese rights.
“DAP is not interested in holding talks with MCA on Chinese unity, as DAP is a multi-racial Malaysian party.
“We can have talks with MCA on corruption and injustices in the annual ‘begging-session’ for Malaysian top-scorers to get Public Services Department scholarships, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal, lack of judicial independence or even on Umno hegemony. But will Umno allow it?”
What will be announced and what happens to PAS?
So what announcements will Anwar, Kit Siang and Hadi make later today? Malaysians will soon know, no point speculating when it is just a matter of hours.
What they can be sure of is that the trio – who are each politically savvy and advanced individuals in their own right – will try to get something from any negotiations with Umno that will be of benefit to all Malaysians.
But they will not sacrifice on principle.
And then what happens to PAS?
Well, PAS, like any other political party going through its ups-and-downs will have to find its own way out. The rights of its members must be respected.
But because it is an established party, it will survive despite the spears and arrows rained down on it by Umno.
It must also be pointed out that not only spiritual adviser Nik Aziz wants PAS to stay in Pakatan, but Hadi too has repeatedly affirmed this. The difference is that Hadi also wants to speak to Umno on political and economic issues.
But why rush to doubt Hadi’s words especially if he reaffirms and clarifies his stand later again today? Because this will create doubt in the other races for PAS and this suspicion if left unchecked can ultimately weaken the Pakatan.
Also why rush to offer PAS a pact knowing that it will upset the other races and likely be turned down by the Islamist party itself. Political desperation is one thing. The other is because even if it fails, it will show that Umno is still all-Malay whereas PAS has sold out to the others!
But will this type of thinking still hold? Only Malaysians and the Malays themselves can answer this question.
And perhaps this is why Najib and his Umno-BN are trying their best to avoid and where possible even stop elections – because this is where the truth will come spilling out!
