Difficult to fix a ‘broken bracelet’

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Feb 21, 2013

Chua’s problem boils down to credibility and baggage. The DAP side does not respect him because of his history.

Joceline Tan, The Star

The quarrel between DAP and PKR in Johor is centred around the parliamentary seat of Gelang Patah which means broken bracelet’ in Malay an apt description of the ties between the two parties in the state.

THE war of words between DAP and PKR in Johor has grounded to a stop for now, at least. Or as Johor reporters put it, Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau has been “zipped up”.

DAP called for a ceasefire between Dr Boo and PKR’s Johor chief Datuk Chua Jui Meng but as some say, the “rice has turned to porridge” the situation is beyond repair.

The slanging match between them the last few weeks has been quite astonishing and it is hard to see how the two of them can work together in the general election.

The last time there was this much tension between DAP and PKR was when Datuk Mansor Othman was caught calling Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng a “cocky, arrogant Tokong”.

The name-calling between Dr Boo and Chua has been worse. Chua has referred to his DAP counterpart as “amateurish” and “ridiculous” whereas Dr Boo has gone as far as calling for the PKR “overlord” to be replaced in Johor.

But the most amazing part about the heat and fury between Dr Boo and Chua is that it is centred around a single seat, namely, the parliamentary seat of Gelang Patah.

The Pakatan Rakyat thinking these days is that any seat with a sizeable number of Chinese voters is winnable and every one of them wants to contest in a Chinese-majority seat.

Gelang Patah, near Johor Baru, is one of those so-called winnable seats because it is 54% Chinese, 34% Malay and 12% Indians.

This is despite the fact that MCA had defeated PKR in 2008 by almost 9,000 votes.

Dr Boo’s argument is that DAP has a better chance of winning the seat than PKR. One version has it that he wants the seat for his party colleague Liew Chin Tong who is looking for an exit plan from Bukit Bendera in Penang.

The other version is that Dr Boo is eyeing the seat for himself because he is already the assemblyman for Skudai, one of the two state seats located in Gelang Patah.

The tension between the two Johor big guns had simmered for months before it boiled over.

For instance, everyone had noticed that Dr Boo and his clique did not show up for Pakatan’s Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat in Johor two months ago.

Dr Boo first highlighted it on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. Then, he issued a press statement to the Chinese media where he bared his frustrations about Chua whom he labelled as “arrogant” and accused of “turning PKR into another MCA”.

Chua is very sensitive about his history as a former MCA leader and he is furious about the attacks.

But his aides have projected their boss as the victim. They said he has never issued any statements about seats in Johor because the decision lies with the top Pakatan leadership.

“Google it, check his Twitter. Jui Meng has not said a thing about contesting in Gelang Patah. These DAP people are greedy for seats. We told our boss to focus on the campaign because Dr Boo is acting like a small boy,” said an aide.

The PKR side also accused DAP of being too possessive about the Chinese vote.

They said DAP wants to monopolise the Chinese vote because it wants to be the “tai kor (big brother) of the Chinese”.

But a DAP insider has suggested that the quarrel may be more than just the Gelang Patah seat or the clashing egos of Dr Boo and Chua.

He pointed to the way DAP leaders have directly or indirectly defended Dr Boo on the issue.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh did not hold his punches in putting Chua in his place, whereas Lim, who ordered the ceasefire, had commiserated with Dr Boo regarding his “frustrations on being dictated to” in Johor.

Another DAP leader Tan Kok Wai said no disciplinary action would be taken against Dr Boo because what he said “is true”.

The Johor dispute basically reflects the discord over seats in several other states, including Penang and Perak, which, as many have noted, used to happen only in Barisan Nasional.