Wan Azizah losing by-election is actually good for PKR and Pakatan
Khoo Kay Peng, The Ant Daily
PKR’s decision to nominate Dr Wan Azizah as the candidate of Permatang Pauh by-election shows that the party is at its crossroads. There are some serious questions that the party and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition need to answer to convince their supporters that their future lies with them.
Wan Azizah had served the constituency when her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, was serving his jail term from 1999 to 2008. During this period, Wan Azizah had performed admirably as a wife and a reluctant politician who was forced to enter the political ring to help keep her husband’s legacy and political career alive. In July 2008, she vacated her Permatang Pauh seat and took a retreat from her party to enable Anwar Ibrahim’s political comeback.
She has been carrying the label as a reluctant politician and a dedicated wife very well until her resignation in 2008. This is making her transition back as a serious politician in the upcoming by-election on May 7 very difficult and unconvincing.
She is definitely not President Corazon Aquino, the wife of political icon Senator Benigno Aquino Jr who was the staunchest critic of President Ferdinand Marcos. The second coming of Wan Azizah is no longer going to be the same as her first involvement in 1999.
Her party leaders had destroyed her image and credibility. Feuding factions wanting to resolve internal party bickering and frictions had used Wan Azizah as a political pawn.
Her last minute involvement in the controversial Kajang Move, a by-election engineered by PKR to ditch incumbent menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim, was a failure. She made little impact on the Selangor government. The move was made to enable Anwar to enter the Selangor state assembly but backfired when the risk of his prosecution was apparent.
The second coming of Wan Azizah shows there is a lack of leadership continuity after Anwar. This could possibly lead to leadership frictions between a few possible successors in the party.
It seems that a post-Anwar PKR is going to be fractious and factional. Unlike Corazon who had chosen to implement reforms to limit the powers of the presidency and to focus on civil liberties and human rights, Wan Azizah’s leadership does not have a clear vision and direction. She was a seat warmer for her husband.
By prolonging her stay at the top of the party hierarchy, PKR is only trying to hold back the party from facing a meltdown. Wan Azizah has been portrayed as a representative of Anwar Ibrahim, the de-facto leader who is still leading the party through his wife. So is Wan Azizah an effective substitute for Anwar or just a mere puppet? How effective can she run PKR and manage the differences in the party?
By fielding Wan Azizah in Permatang Pauh the party is putting its credibility at risk. An elected representative must represent and serve the people. It is odd when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has to make a promise to “help serve the constituency” on her behalf. Similarly, he said that Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali is willing to do the same for Kajang. This does not speak well for a candidate who seems to have trouble serving her constituencies.
Why is Azizah so important for Lim and Azmin? Why is PKR nominating a candidate who has a problem serving two constituencies located more 400km apart? Is the party respecting the spirit of democratic elections? Unfortunately, it is obvious that the party is only interested to serve its political interests.
The risk of PR component members pulling the coalition apart due to differences in ideology and political direction is more real and serious since its loose formation post GE12 in 2008.
Previously, Anwar was able to pull the strings and help to remind the partners of their common objective to unseat the Barisan Nasional. He was able to get them put their own self-interest and differences at the back burner. It has allowed the partnership to grow into a formidable opposition in GE13 in 2013.
With the risk of ideological differences, eg the Islamic state ambition of PAS and the DAP’s secularism at loggerheads, can Wan Azizah play a peacemaker role successfully?
It depends on how enduring Anwar is as the face of opposition. Are both PAS and DAP still convinced that the Anwar charisma and enigma can win them the federal government in the next GE? Wan Azizah can only be an effective leader of the coalition if Anwar Ibrahim’s political star is still bright. Anwar’s influence is also on the wane.
It is obvious that PKR does not have any answers to the questions above. Hence, Wan Azizah has been used to paper over the inherent weaknesses and fragility of the party.
There are three reasons to reject Wan Azizah in Permatang Pauh.
