10 things from Wan Azizah’s Al-Jazeera Interview
Does an undecided leader draw in others who are undecided?
Praba Ganesan, The Malay Mail Online
A real no-brainer following leader of the Opposition Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s calamitous interview with international cable news station Al-Jazeera:
1. She should not lead Pakatan
The middling, boring quality of the Opposition is heralded perfectly by its leader, who confirms “she rather not lead.”
Malaysia deserves better. It needs direct, aspirational and confident leadership from all contenders. It is a prerequisite to being called a contender.
No less when it is the top leader, the leader of the opposition pact.
They face the BN juggernaut, which has never lost, ever. Firing off lines about gerrymandering has moral properties but not political real estate.
Which is why “want to” has to be a job requirement, not a nice to have.
The guy on top must want it, want it badly. Compromise is not the future, it is the past we are asking Malaysians to walk away from.
2. PKR members must demand leadership
The party is the spine of the Opposition, and it better act more than just as an arbitrator for all those committed to regime change.
The party has to parade its relevance and flex its ambition to become the next largest party in Malaysian politics.
It will be stuck in the muck with a “seat warmer” at the helm. I rather have Azmin Ali, and then the next guy or girl who leads.
What remains is if members are bold enough to raise it. This member is.
There is a party congress this weekend. Belatedly, members may need to wake up to the inconvenient truth that reform has to happen internally, as much as externally.
3. She’s clueless about how to handle PAS
Before, during and after the interview, with every chance to clarify her view, Wan Azizah has gone missing when it comes to deciding about PAS.
The clumsy “We are aware PAS unfriended us but maybe, just maybe” is stale. It has been some time.
Voters can understand political parties not getting along, after all that is their choice, but what they will not stomach is a convoluted and uncertain present which persists with the promotion of all permutations of future relationships. It is befuddling.
Political relationships should not mirror closely popular TV dramas.
Her bewildering grasp of the sticky situation only underlines that there is no PAS plan.
