Of Pakatan, People, Principles, Patience and Prudence

by Martin Jalleh

With each passing day, Umno, which had very arrogantly declared that it would bury Anwar Ibrahim politically, continues to dig its own grave.

The results of the by-election in Permatang Pauh sounded the death knell to the supremacist party. It was the last nail that the party drove into its own coffin.

After the General Elections in March it became evident that Umno is not short of leaders like Ahmad Ismail who desperately seek to write Umno’s obituary.

Sharing this privilege is Dr M, whose self-deceiving sarcasm puts him in a state of denial especially over the fact that Umno started to decay and decompose during his days!

Umno’s colleagues in the BN whose parties are also disintegrating have made it clear that they can no longer swallow nor stomach Umno’s political vomit and venom.

The PM increasingly looks like a lame duck, kept afloat by a pool of lame-brained ministers like Najib, Nazri and Syed Hamid – experts at offering lame excuses.

It is against this dark despairing scenario that Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) offer much-needed hope. There is great urgency to bring about real and radical change.

Anwar has made it very clear (and no one can accuse him of having a hidden agenda) that he wants to lead this country out of these turbulent and trying times, as the PM.

And why should he not be PM – he has the intelligence, the interest of the people at heart and the kind of inspiration to spur the people on to heights of glory as a nation.

But the method with which Anwar employs to change the government and to take his rightful seat in Putrajaya, does not sit well with some of us who are supportive of PR.

People paramount

The nation is at a crossroads and one seriously wonders whether a government set up by crossovers is the answer! Will they be at cross-purposes not long after?

Defection is a defective way of setting up a government. Floor-crossing creates instability – rogue MPs can easily pull the rug from under the new PR government.

The PR is a “people’s party”. It is a party formed by the people, for the people and with the people. Time and again we are told that the people come first. They are the boss.  

We even hear of the people’s parliament, people’s court – the people’s wants, wishes and will! The “tsunami” of March 2008 and Permatang Pauh were a “people’s victory”.

The very essence and reason for PR’s existence is – the people. If the people are paramount then PR must respect the will of the people as expressed in the last general election.

The choice and will of the people must not be negated or substituted by the will of an individual or a group of individual — no matter how noble the intention.

Party hopping, crossovers or floor-crossing ignores the decision of the majority of the people. It is synonymous with the BN and it is against the very soul and spirit of PR.

Hopping does not bring hope. It only sets a bad precedent. With money politics so rife, there is no guarantee that the hopper may not one day hop back into his/her original “hole”.

Crossovers may produce a “crossbreed” of politicians who may end up engaging themselves in crossing swords than serving the people.

Principled politics

In their great and genuine desire to bring about change, Anwar and PR must be guided by democratic principles and allow the democratic process of March 2008 to run its course.

A principle is an absolute. It defies compromise. It is not a sliding scale to be altered at whim or will. PR must choose the moral high ground and not resort to Umno’s lowdown tactics. Two wrongs do not make one right.

If a principle is bent, even “just a little bit” out of whatever the justification, it may one day boomerang or backfire on those who have compromised. We are not short of examples.

The BN itself is now haunted by the very tool and “trick” it used when it successfully enticed MPs from the PBS to cross over to the BN in the 1994 Sabah state elections.

Dr M and his son Mukhriz are now complaining very vehemently about the 30 percent quota for nominations in an Umno election.

According to former secretary general of Umno, Mohamed Rahmat: “That quota was put there (by Dr M) to ensure no one challenges Dr Mahathir. It is not democratic.”

Thomas Jefferson offers us much wisdom: "So long as [the principles of our revolution] prevail, we are safe from everything which can assail us from without or within".

Consider the observation of Charles de Montesquieu, a French political thinker: “The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the decay of its principles.”

Yes, these are revolutionary times. Anwar and PR have created a “revolution” indeed. It is crucial therefore that it be faithful to its starting principles so that this revolution may go from strength to strength.

Patience & Prudence

According to well-respected Irene Fernandez it is “good to jump ship so that genuine democracy will be a reality”. She adds: “Let’s stop being myopic.”

Crossovers will only create a “genetically modified” democracy, not a genuine one! Let us not be blind to its long-term implications and possible repercussions.

Perhaps the senior leaders of the DAP who have quite consistently taken an anti-defection stance could share their wisdom with Anwar and their colleagues in PR. 

DAP chairman Karpal Singh has said he was dead set against a government shored up by kataks and “kangaroos”. Party advisor Lim Kir Siang had proposed an anti hopping law as far back as 30 years ago!

Some say that Kit Siang has been curiously coy about Anwar’s crossover plan because he harbours hope of being a deputy PM! Frankly, he does not need such a position.

Having lived and suffered for his principles, Kit Siang has reached a stature that commands the kind of public respect that no high office or honorific title can provide.

I fully agree with social commentators Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh that it would be “much wiser for the Pakatan to concentrate on governing the five states which it currently controls and to show voters that it can govern at the state level effectively.”

Ong and Oon were right on when they added: “By playing the role of a loyal opposition, at least for now, Pakatan can find its feet and learn what it is like to work as a united team through the formation of a shadow cabinet, for example.

“By showing that they can indeed work together as a coalition, it will only increase the voter’s confidence that Pakatan is a government-in-waiting rather than a temporary opposition alliance of convenience.” 

For the sake of the people of Bolehland, may patience and prudence prevail in Pakatan Rakyat as it journeys towards Putrajaya!

Martin Jalleh

(8 Sept. 2008)