Equal but useless

Zaid Ibrahim, Malay Mail Online

Mr Lim Kit Siang — the maestro of the Pakatan Rakyat orchestra — is in a bind.

While he needs the support of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PAS to strengthen his party’s hold on urban seats and ultimately to gain traction as a credible national Opposition, he knows deep in his heart that both his political allies are giving the DAP and the Opposition political problems never encountered before.

The Selangor shambles is a clear example of the division and utter confusion in the Opposition camp.

Yet, as a seasoned politician he feels compelled to rebut the UMNO allegations that DAP and PAS are Anwar’s puppets. He has taken the high ground (what else can he do?) by saying that the Selangor mentri besar crisis has highlighted the great and fundamental difference between the Pakatan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional coalitions.

The Pakatan, he said, was a coalition of equals with component parties having equal say in the future and direction of the Opposition. Differences and disagreements have to be resolved and thrashed out with a great deal of “patience and stamina”.

These are brave words. They are also hollow.

The Pakatan coalition may be equal in all respects but that does not mean they are not useless. They neither know nor agree amongst themselves about the direction and future of the Opposition.

First, neither PAS nor the DAP knew about the “Kajang Move” and there were public statements to this effect from the respective party leaders. The reason they are now united is only to avoid a break-up — it was not because, after the shameless wrangling in public, they had found the answers to the “direction” and “future” of the Opposition.

They may be united in removing Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as mentri besar, but that was done to preserve the Pakatan coalition. It was pure self-interest and nothing more.

This extended even to their nominees for the post of mentri besar: the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council (of which PAS is a member) submitted the name of Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and yet PAS separately submitted the name of Mohamed Azmin Ali as an alternative. This was confirmed by the PAS Youth wing and it was not the conduct of equals but a disjointed coalition in complete disarray.

The truth is that the Pakatan Coalition of Equals knows not what it wants to do with itself. It has no united plan to govern the country. Its public policy disagreements with itself are daily occurrences and we are entitled to ask: how long can Kit Siang attribute this to their “special position” as equals and expect to be believed?

The Pakatan Rakyat has a Common Policy, sure. But that’s only for use during the General Election in case someone asks for it.

When it got Khalid Ibrahim as mentri besar, everyone thought that this was to show the Barisan Nasional that an honest technocrat was better than a politician of the UMNO mould when it came to leading the state. The Pakatan took pride in Khalid as a man of integrity until they compiled a dossier on him alleging various wrongdoings in a desperate effort to remove him.

So what does the Pakatan Rakyat want for Selangor and for Malaysia? What have the long political deliberations and patience amongst equals produced?

Barisan Nasional component parties may be subservient to UMNO and there may be trade-offs of sorts to balance competing interests, but if this is the price of stability then so be it.

The people want a functioning government and leaders who are able to plan and move the country forward. If there is a better choice than the Barisan Nasional, they will go for it.

Unfortunately, there is none. There may be more corruption under Barisan rule than many would like, but the Barisan has shown its ability to govern without breaking one another’s necks and changing mentri besar for no reason at all.

The Pakatan on the other hand is in control of Malaysia’s richest state—Selangor—and the people expect them to show “real political maturity” and how its government is better than the Barisan’s. This has turned out to be a false hope.

Sadly, the Pakatan now wants to remove the mentri besar who has managed to run the state with some integrity and professionalism over the past six years. The Pakatan wants to replace him with someone whose greatest strength is complete adulation for and subservience towards her husband.

In the fresh Selangor state election, which I hope will be called soon, let the Barisan and Pakatan slug it out once again. The interests of the people can only be better served by a fresh election.

Khalid Ibrahim and his supporters should also participate in this election as it will give the people of Selangor the opportunity to decide on his fate. Even if he fails, he will have the chance to explain what transpired in the state government.

His credibility requires him to stand firm, clear his name and let the voters judge him. Only the voters’ decisions count, so let Khalid, Anwar and the Barisan use the election campaign to explain why each is better suited to govern than the others.

I hope that this time the people will critically examine the speeches of their leaders with more care and, more importantly, I hope they will judge them on their actions.