Time to unite
If we want justice to be upheld, we must hold BN accountable — and to do this, we need competition: we need PR. Teo’s death has brought together PR politicians of all races, religions and affiliations to condemn the suspicious behaviour of the MACC and mourn his passing.
John Lee, The Malaysian Insider
Two things dominated the headlines this week: Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) infighting, and the sudden death of a PR politician’s aide in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
This strange, mysterious incident exemplifies everything Malaysians have grown to detest about our institutions, from their political pliability to their lack of respect for the basic dignity of the human life.
That someone can so easily die in custody is yet another reminder after Manek Urai that PR needs to close ranks around its key principles of institutional reform and respect for the rights of all Malaysians.
With all this news of infighting in PR — internecine struggles not only between parties, but within parties from PAS to PKR — it is easy to forget what PR stands for and what PR represents. It is naturally easy to remember why PR politicians are squabbling. They are, after all, politicians.
A politician’s occupation is to seek power. Some politicians in PAS think the best route to power is through Umno. Some politicians in PR think they know better than others how to gain power for the coalition — hence Azmin Ali’s meddling in the Khalid Ibrahim administration of Selangor. But all politicians, whether they belong to Barisan Nasional or PR, seek power; it’s in their job description—it’s what they do.
What truly distinguishes politicians from one another is the reason they seek power. Some seek power to enrich themselves and their cronies. Some seek power to serve their nation. Some seek power to do both. What differentiates PR from BN is that many, many more PR politicians are doing their job out of a desire to serve, and not a desire to corrupt.
Talk of PR’s downfall is in the air, now that the momentum seems to be on BN’s side. With talks of a split in PAS and obvious feuding within PR, it is hard not to think that PR will go down in flames.
