No free ride on PKR for MCLM nominees

(Malaysiakini) – While PKR welcomes cooperation with the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), the latter’s ‘vetted’ candidates will be required to join the party in order to contest the general election under its banner.

“Deputy president Azmin Ali, the party and I have already said that we welcome any cooperation with MCLM,” strategy director Rafizi Ramli (left) told a press conference at party headquarters in Petaling Jaya today.

“But to contest as candidates, they must join the party, join our candidate pool. If they really are as capable and viable as announced, I am sure they will be fielded.”

While agreeing that a candidate’s capability to serve as lawmaker is important, Rafizi noted that hard lessons have shown PKR the need for loyal candidates who will toe the party line.

“He or she must be aligned to our policies and our struggle,” he said, recounting past experiences that saw nine PKR elected representatives jumping ship, under questionable circumstances, in recent years.

The party cannot repeat the mistake of allowing any Tom, Dick or Harry to contest on a PKR ticket, but who then goes on to vote on issues based on conscience, Rafizi said.

“Conscience is one thing, but the party line is another, and is also important… the problem of working with conscience is that, once influenced with RM3 million or RM4 million, it can change,” he added.

He was alluding to Bandar Baru Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin and his sudden rash of ‘conscientious’ actions that led to him being thrown out of the party.

Lessons learnt

Such painful episodes, Rafizi said, have taught the relatively young party to be wary in choosing its next batch of election candidates.

“If we simply go on to repeat past mistakes, I think it would be unwise and unfair to the party and to Pakatan Rakyat as a whole.”

MCLM has begun vetting and selecting potential candidates for opposition political parties and others, to fill what it claims to be a dearth of ‘qualified candidates’.

PKR, which hurriedly fielded first-timers for the 2008 general election, found itself having to deal with a glut of problems after many of these ‘unprepared’ candidates were swept into office by the political tsunami.

The opposition coalition gained unprecedented control of five states and broke BN’s two-thirds majority in Parliament.

However, the first cracks appeared when three Pakatan Perak assemblypersons left their respective parties to become ‘BN-friendly Independents’. This changed the balance of power in the state, which was reverted to BN rule.