Sociological approach to understanding reaction to Citizens’ Declaration
COMMENT: Ooi’s article makes an interesting read. I see it as an attempt by someone from the Penang Institute, a think tank of the DAP state government, to justify DAP’s political pragmatism in joining forces with UMNO Baru’s founder, Tun Dr. Mahathir, to oust Dato’ Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister.
Din Merican
Get Najib out of power first and then worry about what happens next, that apparently is the plan. But it does not work that way since a political vacuum will be created if we do not have an acceptable alternative in place.
Tun Dr. Mahathir has his own preference in either Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or his own son Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mahathir to preserve UMNO Baru, while Pakatan Harapan can agree on Anwar Ibrahim who is now in jail. Anwar is a good choice but getting him out of jail is not going to be easy. Tun Dr. Mahathir is not going to countenance his political resurrection and it would be foolhardy for Prime Minister Najib Razak to get him out of jail any time soon.
Removing the Prime Minister by politically motivated dissent is unusual in our country. Tun Dr. Mahathir would not tolerate it when he was in power. Democracy does not work in that manner, since it is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The next Prime Minister has to be decided by Malaysians in free and fair elections. Prime Minister Najib is no fool; he knows that he can only be removed by constitutional means, either by a General Elections or a No Confidence Vote in Parliament.
We often use the word pragmatic rather glibly. The last time I checked with dictionary, I found it not quite complimentary. The conventional definition of pragmatist is someone who is pragmatic, that is to say, someone who is practical and focused on reaching a goal. A pragmatist usually has a straightforward, matter-of-fact approach and doesn’t let emotion distract him/her.
A pragmatist can also ignore his/her own ideals to get the job done, so in this way it can have a slightly negative meaning. The word is often used in reference to politicians to mean that they are either sensible or willing to cut corners for their cause.
A pragmatist is, in my view, is someone who will abandon principles, who is willing to work with an adversary to achieve a purpose, even though he knows that his adversary has a different agenda. DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, for example, has been engaged in a political struggle with UMNO for decades.
DAP has always been a successful political force on its own with our ideology based on justice, freedom and democracy. Its foray into coalition politics of fairly recent vintage (in 2008 when it became an influential component of Pakatan Rakyat (and now Pakatan Harapan). I am, therefore, baffled that Kit Siang should now compromise with a diehard UMNO man who was his enemy and in so doing lose his credibility and undermine the standing of his party.
The Citizens’ Declaration is an elitist document. As such, the ordinary man in the street has no time for lofty pronouncements written by the so-called thinking individuals. He is concerned about his job, food on his table, money to pay his children’s education, pay his rent and medical bills. How can he be convinced that political change can make difference to his life?
If we are to bring change by replacing Prime Minister Najib Razak by democratic means, we need to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Malaysians. The Citizens’ Declaration is of no help here. Ganging up with the former dictator, Tun Dr. Mahathir is certainly an exercise in futility.
We do not need a sociological approach, as suggested by Ooi, to understand why some Malaysians support and others reject the Citizens’ Declaration. We need to go back to the people with clear plan on how to reform our system of governance. This must involve a total revamp of our political system to stamp out corruption, crony capitalism, and uphold the Rule of Law. So, I need to be convinced with Tun Dr. Mahathir at the helm of the movement to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak from power, this coalition of strange bedfellows can get the job done, even if it succeeds by dint of good fortune to unseat him.
