Pakatan in its current form is destined for failure
Dr Shamsher Singh Thind, The Third Force
I refer to the statement made by Abdul Aziz Isa, Special Assistant to Yang Berhormat (YB) Chong Chieng Jen, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bandar Kuching, on 4 November 2017. In essence, Abdul Aziz wanted us to stop being egotistic, and instead, accept or at least tolerate Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the betterment of the younger generation. The YB’s Special Assistant also issued a warning that those who are still unable to do so “will suffer, not Tun M.”
Bollocks to that!
Certainly, I do not wish to hear any kind of lecture on politics and psychology from Abdul Aziz Isa. I wish to remind Malaysians that Abdul Aziz was the DAP candidate for Batu Kitang constituency during the Sarawak state election last year. In that election, he contested not only against the Barisan Nasional’s Lo Khere Chiang, but also against PKR’s Voon Shiak Ni.
Legend has it that Abdul Aziz stayed in his car parked near the nomination centre until he received the news that PKR nominated its candidate for Mambong, where DAP planned to field a candidate. Only then did he submit his nomination form to legitimise his candidacy for Batu Kitang. See how conveniently he succumbed to his and his party’s selfish plan?
Batu Kitang and Mambong are two of the six constituencies in which DAP contested against PKR. The other four are Mulu, Murum, Simanggang and Ngemah. Needless to say, BN won handsomely in all the said six constituencies, as well as in 66 other constituencies (including two won uncontested), whereas Pakatan won in just 10 constituencies. In the 2011 Sarawak state election, Pakatan won 15 seats out of 71 seats!
The problem is not that I hate Dr Mahathir to a point that I want BN to be re-elected. The problem is that Pakatan simply does not exist as a strong united front capable of forming an effective government, and this leaves me (and many others, I believe) with no choice but to let BN win again.
Let us be realistic. When you are hungry and need food, you will settle for anything will even eat leftovers. What possible benefit can you gain from watching a cookery show on the food channel when you are having a rumbling stomach? Unless, of course, you believe that you can put your hand into the television set and steal a cookie from the table!
Yes, Pakatan has to walk the walk.
According to Clause 5 of the Pakatan Harapan Agreement (which I am not sure if it is still valid today), its Presidential Council has the final say in deciding which component party’s candidate shall contest in which constituency during an election, in the event the parties are unable to reach an agreement. However, as seen above, the Presidential Council failed miserably to make the crucial final decision during the recent Sarawak state election.
If Pakatan’s leaders are unable to make a simple decision, which was very much within their collective’s discretion, then what else can they do for the country? Everyone knows about the Perak constitutional crisis which took place immediately after three assemblymen crossed over to BN in 2009, which effectively caused the collapse of Pakatan-led state government. However, not many are aware that Pakatan’s problem started much earlier.
The Sultan of Perak picked Ir Mohammad Nizar of PAS as the Menteri Besar since Pakatan at that time was unable to make its own decision. The swearing-in ceremony, which had originally been scheduled to take place on 13 March 2017, was postponed just because DAP was unhappy with the Sultan’s choice. DAP wanted either its own assemblyman, Ngeh Koo Ham, or PKR’s assemblyman, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, as the Menteri Besar.
To make things worse, a day before the scheduled swearing-in ceremony, Lim Kit Siang ordered all Peark DAP assemblymen to stay away from the event. The Sultan of Perak was saddened by this insult. DAP subsequently accepted the decision made by the palace and Lim Kit Siang tendered his apology to Sultan Azlan Shah and Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah. Ironically, it was Jamaluddin who ended up becoming one of the three assemblymen who jumped ship!
Well, failing to plan is planning to fail.
