Kak Wan’s shadow cabinet announcement nothing new
Hazlan Zakaria, The Ant Daily
More than just making an announcement, the newly minted Opposition Leader must show real action and commitment to the creation of a functioning shadow cabinet beyond lip service to the idea from the pact she presumably leads.
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s announcement that Pakatan will pursue the creation of a shadow cabinet as is common in other countries with the Westminster parliamentary system, is well and good but nothing new as the pact has been struggling with it for sometime prior to this to no avail.
Without the unifying presence of her jailed husband, former Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was credited with holding the diametrically opposed parties of the pact together, it is questionable if she can actually shepherd PKR, DAP and PAS to agree to single MP candidates as shadow minister on her own.
Prior to this, in the face of public criticism for failing to even name their lineup to shadow government ministries, Pakatan had settled with a list of MPs to form three-member shadow committees in the place of an actual shadow cabinet.
Another one of their “agree to disagree” compromises after irreconcilable differences, which inpart is the reason why the BN had managed to get away with a lot of the things they did in Parliament, the shadow cabinet which could help check them was never constituted.
One can argue that it was BN that is trying to run roughshod over Parliament and preventing opposition access to government ministries but the blame for the lack of a shadow cabinet is Pakatan’s alone.
Now, if they had formed it and the BN refused to allow it to function, that is another issue, but without a shadow cabinet at all, we will never know perhaps.
It must be noted that even when Anwar was free and leading the pact, he himself failed to get the different parties in Pakatan to agree to the formation of a shadow cabinet.
The difficulties of forming the shadow cabinet as posited by observers may have been the inability of the parties to agree as to which portfolio they will get.
Can Wan Azizah more affectionately called Kak Wan, having admitted that she would be more that happy to be her husband torchbearer and ‘puppet’, actually pull enough gumption to do what her husband himself has failed.
What more with the already strained ties between DAP and PAS since the PKR triggered Kajang Move all the way to the recent hudud imbroglio, no doubt complicating matters.
Indeed DAP and PAS’ agreement to her as Opposition Leader is seen by observers as nothing more than a compromise as neither the social democratic party nor the Islamist party would tolerate a candidate from each other.
Admittedly she was the magnet that helped pull the parties that now form Pakatan together as a viable opposition after Anwar was first incarcerated in 1998 but can she pull the same trick twice soon after surrendering her credibility and seat to play second fiddle to Anwar when he was free?
After all, during the Selangor MB crisis in the aftermath of the Kajang Move, some senior PAS leaders supposedly objected to her appointment as Selangor MB.
Can she handle the difficult task that even her husband had failed to finish? Whatever the case, mere announcement alone will do nothing to show a Pakatan resolve unless she can get the agreement and cooperation of PAS and DAP.
She indeed has a hard and long road ahead of her to prod Pakatan into forming the shadow cabinet and indeed she must show some substance to see it through.
It will not be easy to get DAP and PAS to agree though as PKR president she may be able to swing her party behind the idea.
Especially with PAS elections near, and machinations that may see the more hardline ulama faction helming PAS, can the Islamist party be brought to heel by Kak Wan? And whether an emotional response from the DAP to a more extreme PAS will scuttle any heart to heart talk Kak Wan has planned?
Will the PKR factional infighting which saw former Selangor MB drummed out of the party repeat itself as they go after shadow cabinet posts?
Does she have the influence and ability to handle all these?
The question will be what can or will she use to muscle the other two parties and factions within her own party as the bargaining, jostling and power-mongering begin for the posts in the shadow cabinet.
This and more Kak Wan will have to prove and show, if not actually managing to get Pakatan leaders to sit down and come out with an actual joint shadow cabinet list.
If she manages to pull it off, it would indeed be a coup of epic proportions for the Opposition, but if not it will only underscore the problems they are already having.
Other than the formation of the shadow cabinet, Kak Wan also reportedly announced to reporters that her main focus is to help heal the rift in Pakatan via heart to heart talks and push for the formation of a parliament budget or fiscal committee to oversee budget.
