WHAT ARE THE CHOICES? (UPDATED WITH BM TRANSLATION)
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Monday, 02 November 2009 18:32
There are many of us who are disappointed and disillusioned with Pakatan Rakyat. And we would rather die than support Barisan Nasional. But we have nowhere else to go. So we need a new platform. And if Gerakan can be that new platform we would certainly give it a chance.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. That is the problem facing Pakatan Rakyat. You do something you get whacked. You do nothing you also get whacked. That is the dilemma of the opposition.
The main complaint against the opposition is that they don’t rein in the ‘Little Napoleons’, the ‘loose cannons’, the ‘prima donnas’, and whatnot. When the opposition is lax on the ‘frogs’, ‘turncoats’, ‘Trojan Horses’, or those suspected of about to take the leap of unfaith, the opposition is accused of sleeping on the job.
Now the opposition is coming down hard on those viewed as detrimental to the wellbeing of the opposition. And how does the mainstream media respond? The print and electronic media is full of stories about the opposition breaking up.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
The opposition has two choices. It can do nothing and give an impression that all is well in the opposition ranks. Or it can do a massive spring-cleaning and weed out those who do more harm than good to the opposition cause. Which would we prefer?
I used the term ‘benevolent dictatorship’ in one previous article. This is probably an oxymoron though. It is as oxymoron as saying military intelligence (can the military ever be intelligent?). Or maybe, as I am so fond of saying, a virgin prostitute. You can’t be both a virgin and a prostitute at the same time. That is what is meant by an oxymoron. So would a benevolent dictatorship qualify as an oxymoron?
A dictatorship is where the rulers rule with a strong hand and without allowing any dissent or opposition. A benevolent dictatorship is one where a strong hand is tempered with justice, fairness and compassion.
It is not easy, of course. And while it may sound ideal in theory, in practice this may be very hard to do.
Nevertheless, order must prevail and when there is a breakdown of order then extreme measures are required. And this is what, I argued in the past, the opposition appears afraid to do.
And what is the result of the opposition’s lack of action? Well, we have people like Hassan Ali, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin and whatnot doing things harmful to the opposition cause. Then we have infighting, inter-party skirmishes and intra-party battles that threaten to bring down the opposition.
So where do we draw the line? Where does freedom of expression end and sabotage begin? What are the limits and tolerances allowed to the opposition representatives? This is certainly subjective because one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Can we allow and tolerate what the west does, such as expressing discontentment by streaking like the legendary Lady Godiva riding her horse stark naked 1,000 years ago?
The main complaint against the opposition is that it is not reining in its ‘problem people’. Soon after the 8 March 2008 general election, Malaysia Today revealed that there are some in PAS who are having secret talks with Umno. Malaysia Today revealed that Umno is trying to bring down the five state governments under Pakatan Rakyat by buying over the opposition representatives. Malaysia Today said that Umno wants the Malays in the opposition to cross over so that Malay political power could be restored.
Umno said that the 8 March 2008 general election was a repetition of the 11 May 1969 general election where the Malays lost their majority in parliament and a few states and therefore a 13 May 1969 ‘solution’ would be required to address the problem. Malaysia Today revealed all this but many pooh-poohed what was revealed and even accused us of trying to use scare tactics by resurrecting the ‘ghost’ of ‘May 13’.
Today, Khalid Samad, the PAS Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, reveals that the meeting PAS had with Umno was held as early as 10 March 2008, two days after the election. And Umno wanted PAS to leave Pakatan Rakyat and team up with Umno to form a ‘Malay’ government so that the Malays can, again, become the majority in the government.
When the proposal for PAS to team up with Umno failed to materialise, Umno went into Plan B, and that is to buy off the Pakatan Rakyat representatives and entice them (or blackmail them) to cross over. The first state to fall would be Perak followed by Selangor and later Kedah. Kelantan and Penang would probably be spared but they would get back these two states in other ways.
If Barisan Nasional and Umno are sincere, then they should explore the possibility of a unity government. And this is what Malaysia Today proposed early in 2008. But of course many were against this idea and they whacked me good and proper, some even accusing me of ‘selling out’, etc. They of course did not understand what I had in mind or refused to understand.
I was not talking about opposition representatives resigning from PKR, DAP or PAS to join one of the 14 parties in Barisan Nasional. I was not even talking about PKR, DAP and/or PAS joining Barisan Nasional as the 15th, 16th or 17th component member. I was talking about the PKR, DAP and PAS representatives remaining in their respective parties and the three Pakatan Rakyat parties remaining in Pakatan Rakyat but with Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional sharing power and jointly running this country as two coalitions in partnership.
This has been done in many other countries, even between very diverse parties such as Christian Democrats and Communists coming into ‘partnership’. Some have worked and some have failed when after a while the unity government broke up and they dissolved parliament or the national assembly in favour of fresh elections. So there are no guarantees and it might work or it might not. Nevertheless, we will never know unless we try and if Barisan Nasional is really sincere about ‘reconciliation’ then this is the best alternative to explore rather than trying to buy out each other’s representatives and triggering crossovers.
But it is probably now too late to explore the possibility of a unity government. The unity government was something that might have worked with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as Prime Minister. It is not possible with Najib Tun Razak as Prime Minister as then we would be endorsing Najib and would be giving him legitimacy.
Anyhow, much has changed since 8 March 2008. The Perak issue alone makes it impossible to now talk about a unity government. Before Najib took over and before what they did to Perak it would have left the door open. Now the door has been permanently closed and the only alternative would be a total change of government. Barisan Nasional has to be kicked out. There are no two ways about it. Najib is just too sneaky for the opposition to enter into any deal with Barisan Nasional.
Which means all we have left is an alternative government. But can Pakatan Rakyat be that alternative government? Not if they continue the way they are going. Pakatan Rakyat needs to do a massive housecleaning. Again, there are no two ways about it if the opposition wants to continue getting the support of the voters.
So, this, Pakatan Rakyat is doing. And you can’t fry the egg unless you first break the shell. So many shells need to be broken. But the mainstream media is making it appear like the opposition is breaking up. It will certainly break up if nothing is done. But through housecleaning it can only get better and stronger.
I, for one, am not afraid of controversy or turmoil. There is always opportunity in chaos. Di dalam kesempitan ada kesempatan, as the Malays would say. And, as the English would say, we have to bite the bullet. And bite the bullet we shall.
I am prepared to give the opposition another 18 months to show us what it can do. Then, around 18 months from now, Najib would call for fresh elections and we will, again, be going to the polls. So, in early 2011, Malaysians will be able to choose their new government. More than 2,000 Malaysians will be offering themselves as our 800 or so state and federal representatives. We will then assess the situation and decide whom to vote for.
Yes, 18 months more. In 2011, Malaysians will be asked to choose their new federal and state governments. Then we will show the politicians who we want as our government subject to how they conduct themselves over these next 18 months.
I don’t want Barisan Nasional to continue lording over me, as so do many other Malaysians. But can Pakatan Rakyat be entrusted to take over? Let’s see 18 months from now. In the meantime, however, we need a third ‘horse’ to wait in the wings. In case both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat fail us we will need a third alternative, a third force so to speak.
I am currently looking at Gerakan. Somehow I have a soft spot for Gerakan -- always had since 1968. But I don’t mean the Gerakan in its present form. That is just not acceptable. It has to be a Gerakan that is out of Barisan Nasional, an independent party or third force. It has to be a Gerakan that sheds its Barisan Nasional culture. Many of the ‘old horses’ and tainted leaders have to go. We need a revamped and revitalised Gerakan that offers itself as a true Malaysian party minus the racist and religious platform.
There are many of us who are disappointed and disillusioned with Pakatan Rakyat. And we would rather die than support Barisan Nasional. But we have nowhere else to go. So we need a new platform. And if Gerakan can be that new platform we would certainly give it a chance.
But Gerakan can’t win our support based purely on promises like how we supported Pakatan Rakyat in March 2008, based purely on promises. Gerakan has to start now and show us what it can do and is prepared to do -- today, not far into the future and only if it happens to come into power. Gerakan does not need any learning curve. It has already been the government for almost 40 years so it knows how to govern.
At the moment we have all our eggs in one basket, Pakatan Rakyat. And if that basket breaks we will lose all our eggs. And the eggs in the Barisan Nasional basket are just too rotten to the core. So that is not much of a choice. With a third force we will have more choices.
Is Gerakan truly prepared to become that third force? The ball is at Gerakan’s feet. But no promises! Promises are made to be broken. Show us today, and 18 months from now we, the voters, will tell you if we like what we see. We will tell you if our vote is with a reorganised Pakatan Rakyat or a revamped Parti Gerakan Rakyat that has reinvented itself. Hmm….Parti Gerakan Rakyat. That name goes well with Gerakan Rakyat Bloggers. I like the sound of that.
Sigh….how nice if that actually happens. Maybe I am being too idealistic. Maybe the choices are between a bad Pakatan Rakyat and an even worse Barisan Nasional. And bad is better than worse. What a choice!
Translated into BM at: http://gomalaysian.blogspot.com/2009/11/raja-petra-apakah-pilihan-yang-ada-what.html
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