Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Permatang lesson for all

AUG 27, 2009 — The decision was almost a foregone conclusion with PAS coming out tops in Permatang Pasir with a thumping majority of 4,551 votes despite the attempt by the Election Commission to limit the turnout in the by-election by having it in the fasting month and also on a weekday.
Umno's once swashbuckling electoral candidate selection and machinery has almost disintegrated to one that is non-functioning and disjointed.
The problematic candidacy of Rohaizat Othman is now being blamed as the sole reason for the humiliating loss when there are bigger and more fundamental reasons to be considered.
After the 2008 general election, there have been three by-elections within the bigger constituency of Permatang Pauh.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim contested the parliamentary seat of Permatang Pauh to take over from his wife, current Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman contested the Penanti state seat to take over from the troublesome Mohd Fairus Khairuddin and now PAS's Salleh Man is the new state rep of Permatang Pasir after the death of previous representative Mohd Hamdan Rahman.
Now that the dust has settled, there are a few take-home notes for all parties involved.
Since the general election, the political temperature has been topsy turvy and of late, the tables have turned for both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.
After the general election, Pakatan seemed to hold the upper hand and moved forward with much gusto and slight arrogance befitting a government-in-waiting as well as the clear favourite in the domestic political arena.
It was as if Pakatan was leading the way, with Umno and BN chasing and barking all the way behind them.
After a turbulent past few months highlighted by Datuk Seri Najib Razak's ingenious manoeuvre when he scooped Perak from under Pakatan's nose with a few Pakatan scoundrels abandoning Anwar's ship, coupled with some heavy-handed attempts by federal institutions to destabilise the Penang, Kedah and Selangor state governments; the momentum seemed to move slightly back towards Umno.
There seems to be a resurgent of spirit for Umno and BN, playing heavily the racial card to the fullest with extreme rhetorics that only served to alienate the non-Malays even more while slightly consolidating the support from Umno's own hardcore supporters.
In antagonistic fashion, PM Najib seems to be going in the opposite direction compared to the rest of his beleaguered party.
While Najib espoused the 1 Malaysia concept which is supposed to project a more inclusive face of BN, his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the rest of the Umno leaders are revealing the true colours of a party that does not show any capacity of being tolerant or receptive to any values outside of the Malay race.
Muhyiddin has suddenly emerged as the fighter within Umno that believes religiously in Malay supremacy and that Umno holds the divine right to the throne of the country's leadership.
Muhyiddin is putting on the ultra Malay mask in his attempt to strengthen his base within Umno by showing that he would not abandon the sacred Malay Agenda mantra.
He is also positioning himself to be the anti-thesis to Najib's 1 Malaysia and is biding his time waiting for the perfect opportunity to go for the kill as he does not have the luxury of time and age as Najib or even the hungry-looking vice-presidents Datuk Zahid Hamidi or Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein.
Hence, Najib is watching these developments within Umno keenly and as long as he can keep Muhyiddin and the hawks within an arm's length, he would not rock the Umno boat.
Meanwhile, Umno's tactics of painting and highlighting the liberal face of Anwar as well as labelling him a traitor to the race at the same time have not manage to clock additional political votes.
At the same time, it has emboldened Anwar's supporters within Pakatan parties and the general public that the whole traitor and sodomy charges are meant to halt Anwar's charge towards Putrajaya.
Anwar also have major issues to grapple with in PKR and the umbrella coalition of Pakatan.
For the first time, Anwar has admitted that Pakatan especially PKR needs to strengthen its candidate-vetting process.
Anwar may not have the luxury of a pool of quality candidates in the last general election, but he will definitely have an abundance of top, credible, young and experienced leaders offering to stand under the banner of PKR in the next general election.
He must have his fingers crossed that his party and Pakatan do not self-destruct before the next general election.
With leaders like Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Datuk Chua Jui Meng, Tan Yee Kew and the like, Anwar can be certain that he will be able to put up a credible line-up.
His own worry is that there needs to be an infusion of more high-profile Malay as well as young leaders to prop up PKR's image.
As it is, PKR has been beset by opportunists and moles that are being used by Umno as well as former PKR leaders to stir trouble within the young party.
Anwar will also need to enforce his representatives to buck up and clean up their acts, to remain the anchor party of the Pakatan coalition.
The old horses and young upstarts that were ushered into Parliament and state assemblies have to show commitment to fight for the welfare of the people, create opportunities for upward economic mobility and provide service for their constituents.
Another major concern to the Permatang Pauh parliamentarian is the constant feud between DAP and PAS.
Pakatan will need to find a mechanism to deal with outstanding issues and difference in ideologies.
This has to a certain extent affected the confidence of the very people that voted Pakatan in the last general election.
The boisterous conservatives' influence within PAS like Datuk Hassan Ali and Nasharuddin Mat Isa as well as from DAP like Karpal Singh and the like needs to be tapered down to allow a conducive environment for coalition building.
Both Anwar and Najib have their hands full, the one who is able to clean up his party's mess swiftly and more importantly keep his coalition intact will emerge as the big winner in the 13th general election.

- published in The Malaysian Insider : Aug 27, 2009

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