Pakatan’s internal problems
KTemoc Konsiders
Malaysiakini – Opposition’s challenges in overthrowing the kleptocratic regime
by Commander (retd) S Thayaparan (brief extracts)
I read this comment piece about game changers in 2017 and it was just overly optimistic. There is really no evidence that the opposition can overthrow this kleptocratic regime or if the variables mentioned in the articles would fall into place, thereby facilitating a Harapan victory.
This is not meant as an attack but rather a rejoinder that we are sailing through very dangerous waters and if we do not get our act together and move beyond simply cheerleading a disorganised opposition, we could end up in a whole world of hurt.
A couple of points that I think needs clearing up and the article merely glosses over.
(for discussions on this post I’ve picked only one of his points – you can read the others at Malaysiakini):
6) Race and religion. While my views on these issues are spread across various articles, I think there are deeper issues here than just Umno spreading racial and religious discord.
I think that Umno is the main purveyor or racial and religious disharmony but I do think that what the opposition keeps running into a deep-rooted cultural and historical issues from withinPakatan that they have not dealt with hence are not able to come up with a convincing strategy to win over the majority Malay demographic.
It had been and still is very difficult dealing with Malaysia’s complex racial, religious and cultural issues when a Pakatan Rakyat (then PAS, PKR and DAP) was fairly balanced in strength, unlike BN which has an overlord and master in UMNO who bullied and still bullies other BN component parties into toeing the UMNO line and to keep their mouths shut tight, wakakaka, which has been why BN still doesn’t have the problems Pakatan has.
That’s why there is an old Chinese saying that ‘Two tigers cannot be on one mountain’, or in simpler parlance, ‘There can be only one Captain to a ship’ which exists in BN and previously in PR when Anwar Ibrahim was around.
Much as I don’t like Anwar Ibrahim, I have to admit he had the skill to lead PR in a certain way less dictatorial that in BN. But with his exit from current politics, there is no one else currently able to impress upon the component parties to stick together.
