Anwar’s old trick
Lim Sue Goan, TMI
Political parties are facing truly challenging political tests in the Year of the Horse. The Kajang by-election will be the first.
No matter how hard Anwar has tried to explain, the resignation of Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh to make way for another by-election has reflected the seriousness of the trouble now brewing within PKR, and this is bound to have a negative bearing on the image of Anwar Ibrahim as well as his party.
The latest infighting within PKR has exposed the reality that two chronic ills that have plagued the party for years continue to eat into the party’s resources and bog down the party’s progress, namely many party leaders are going after nothing but their personal interest and power, as well as Anwar’s poor leadership.
The Kajang by-election is a product of the uncompromising duel between party deputy president Azmin Ali and Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim. It is still understandable if the squabble has arisen from their varying principles and stands, but just for the post of menteri besar and the party’s hard earned image established around the reformasi is now shattered!
Since the 2008 general election, PKR has seen a fair share of troubles beginning with their elected reps quitting the party in favour of BN. Later, former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim, described by many as the “conscience of Umno”, joined the party but later called it quits because of a tussle with Azmin Ali over the deputy president post.
Shortly after the 13th general election, several Sabah PKR leaders left the party, including two elected assemblymen.
If the exodus post-2008 was attributed to poor quality of candidates fielded, why the same thing again after five years?
PKR is made up a bunch of people of varying qualities and virtues without a clear political direction, hence the weak organization structure. Without a firm resolution to eradicate such irregularities, it would be next to impossible for the party to take up the mission to assume the federal administration in the future. Even if they successfully make it to Putrajaya, there is no guarantee they will stay in power for too long, as their elected reps will always hop over to the opposing camp.
This is not the first time Anwar has orchestrated a by-election to resolve his party’s problems. On February 9, 2009, Bukit Selambau assemblyman V Arumugam resigned for alleged “scandal” and on April 16 the same year, former Penang deputy chief minister Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin resigned as Penanti assemblyman on further studies.
Anwar scored full victories in all these three “artificially created” by-elections (including the one in Permatang Pauh), and this gives him a jab of confidence to divert public attention from the party’s internal conflicts by way of a few by-elections.
And now Anwar is playing the same old game again, trying to whitewash the power struggle within Selangor with a new by-election, showing that his leadership is not really as superior as some have imagined. Even though Anwar eventually wins the by-election, he is still not the best person to be Selangor’s MB.
An outstanding leader should be the one with the ability to resolve conflicts but after the 2008 general election, we have seen that Anwar has adopted all kinds of tricks to dilute the crisis in his party, including repeatedly changing the Sabah state chairman, which has sunken the state into further commotion. I personally believe that the “September 16 prophecy” was nothing more than a strategy he designed to stabilise the party.
