Benevolent Dictatorship
By Hakim Joe
No such thing, RPK, not in the immediate future anyway. The concept is there but the realization and preservation can never be truly successful, not with such diversity in the three coalition partners’ principles and ideologies, and not when we are all still human.
Even if all the Pakatan leaders do somehow agree to unanimously select a leader of whom they will respect and obey, it is not something that can be achieved on a whim. Much of it will depend not on the leaders but on their respective members and supporters. It will mean a general and concerted comprehension of what unity really means, and that is unachievable until all three opposition party leaders, their members and supporters start getting rid of the rabble-rousers and rogues within their ranks.
To even survive as party leaders, these people need the support and total cooperation from their grassroot and that will take some fancy footwork to even get their respective members to sit down peacefully to listen to the proposals. Not mission impossible, mind you but merely mission improbable.
What are the alternatives then?
Yes, I do agree that it will take a strong and firm hand to control the back stabbing that is evident within the opposition coalition members as these acts are having a decisive negative impact on the fence sitters. However, instead of having a dictator commanding people around (no matter how benevolent he, or she, is), the first step after establishing and registering a coalition party is to draft the party constitution, the standing rules and regulations and the limitations of what a party member can (and can’t) actually do. Then comes the formation of the various committees including the important discipline committee and it will be this group of judicious people that will mete out any punishment (as required) but still be democratically driven, in accordance with the party constitution and with respect of human rights. By all means, have regulations that suspend the party constitution in times of an emergency (for example when all the Pakatan leaders are incarcerated under the ISA) but make that ruling as difficult as possible to instigate and implement.
Outlaw dissent and no more double representation in elections. Make it an infringement of party rules for its members to openly criticize the party or its actions but permit an official backchannel for such dissatisfaction to be conveyed back to the party leaders. Combine and localize the respective party divisions and design a common party logo. (No party anthem though cos it’s so mortifying – imagine a group of respectable people holding hands and singing it in public! Surefire way of inducing mass vomiting.) No more public spats and definitely no more members doing a “Hassan Ali” in public. Most importantly, no more “Jelapangs” and any member found (and evinced) to have consorted with the enemy to be dismissed from the party with no hope ever of rejoining the party, and money politics in Pakatan Rakyat’s vocabulary equates corruption (as distinct from Umno’s denotation of that word).
Respect for one another is the foundation for unity and no amount of dictatorial benevolence can substitute for decisions made against individuals for the good of the party. Humans are prone to error and a human dictator makes whatever decisions based on his understanding of a situation without the need to consult anyone or be accountable for it later, can be erroneous. The Pakatan tenet and dogma are based upon true democracy, of human rights and of civil liberties. The support given to it are based on the belief and faith that the leaders will adhere strenuously to these principles and anything contradictory, even to the extent of having a benevolent dictator, can be judged as traitorous. Even if it is indeed covertly practiced by the Pakatan hierarchy, they must be seen to project a sense of democracy. Anything less and the supporters will be driven away. What good henceforth is a dictator, benevolent notwithstanding, if there are no subjects for the purple presence to confer its munificent graces?
No doubt that the events surrounding PAS’s treacherous unity talks with BN, their youth leaders insistence of putting up a candidate at the Penanti by-election despite the seat being allocated to PKR, and their Selangor Commissioner’s “I wanna be MB” side with the enemy, can be alarming but these are incidents where a strong joint effort by the combined disciplinary committee can be used to defuse the situation(s) before BN exploits it to their advantage.
Same thing with the frogs (jumping reps), rats (deserting reps), pigs (lazy reps), chameleons (disappearing reps) and peacocks (arrogant reps) from PAS, PKR and DAP. Either have the disciplinary committee decide their fate or not at all (as what is happening now). A benevolent dictator just will not do!
I for one am unwilling to sell my soul to be part of an alleged greater good for the party. A dictator is ultimately still a dictator no matter what he does or does not do. If we were to give our support to such a person, we would have crossed over the invisible line separating the just and the iniquitous – might as well join BN then.
