Wanted : New Leaders For Pakatan Rakyat

 Referendum?

When Pakatan Rakyat won the last few by-election, Anwar say that they are referendum on BN and when they won big in Bukit Gantang and Penanti, Anwar says that they are referendum on Najib. When PAS barely won in Manik Urai, where there were more spoilt votes than the majority, Anwar says that this is a small by-election and nothing to worry about while his cheer leaders in Pakatan Rakyat claims a win is a win. If PAS would have won by say 2,000 votes, he would have declared that Najib is unpopular and should be replaced by you know who.

They also chose to ignore that although BN lost in many by-elections before, they still commands support in big numbers, no matter that the majority won by Pakatan Rakyat is bigger.

When Centre For Merdeka Studies polls few month ago showed that majority Malaysians prefers Anwar over Najib as best person for the PM job, Pakatan supporters were jubilant and when the similar study recently showed Najib has gained some support, Anwar rubbishes it saying that these are Mainstream Media spins to glorify Najib while his partner Lim Kit Siang says that the survey results provides a challenge to Pakatan. So who is right and who is trying to run away from the issue.

Media Spin Or Pure Indicipline?

When there were few issues within Pakatan Rakyat recently, Anwar again reiterated that the media is at fault for blowing issues out of proportion. The fact is that Pakatan Rakyat leaders are the ones to call media for press conference and announce their stand or argument. Good example is DAP Kedah who invited press for the announcement of pulling out of Pakatan Rakyat Kedah.

Even PAS, UMNO unity talks reflected as ‘Crisis of confidence’ by Lim Kit Siang but Anwar in a statement says this is an attempt by BN to split Pakatan Rakyat and it is BN who is trying to manipulate the issue, when actual fact, the whole issue was started by PAS during their annual conference. When Anwar spoke, PAS president was sitting next to him, with no shame or sense of guilt whatsoever.

Pakatan Rakyat Leaders says that the recent liberalization announced by Najib is a copy of what they have proposed long time ago while PAS President opposed to the move saying that the Malays are not ready and wants the 30% quota upheld. On the other hand, Nik Aziz goes everywhere and preaches that there is no such thing as race in Islam. So who is spinning here?

Now that trouble has started brewing in Pakatan Rakyat Selangor, wonder who Anwar will blame now, perhaps NST, Utusan or the new kid on the blog, Malaysian Mirror. Azmin could have easily brought up any issues directly to the MB or if there are doubt about MB Khalid, he can go directly to Anwar. Azmin must have his own agenda to do what he did and Anwar probably behind it. Or is it times up for MB Khalid if Ex-Penang DCM Fairus resignation is taken as precedent.

In Penang, Jeff Ooi lashed out at two Pakatan Rakyat Councillor for their performance. Aren’t there any other avenues to raise this rather than through press. Everyone appears to behaving like loose canons protecting their own turf and somewhat forgotten what they promised before the elections. The same applies to various nonsensical outbursts by Kulim MP.

Talk Is Cheap But Rakyat Is Watching

And also see how they have played hide and seek in Kampung Buah Pala issue, blaming everybody except for themselves. Lim Guan Eng is certainly not winning any points for this. He may have not promised anything before the general elections but villagers there (in fact a PKR leader) claimed that senior PKR leaders certainly did and their ADUN even reportedly declared that the developer can only destroy the village ‘over his dead body’. Now is this some BN media spinning or a case of over- promise and under-delivering.

Lim was also taken aback by Anwar’s response of former Chief Minister Ahmad Fairus resignation as well claims that the new bridge should not be where it is while Lim earlier said that there are no issues with the bridge. Not sure who is spinning here.

Pakatan Leaders, especially Lim Kit Siang criticized Najib’s various goodies on his 100 days in Office but did he say the same thing when his son did the same soon after taking over the Penang State Government or when Selangor government announced lots of freebies such as free water etc.

Lack Of Leadership in Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat should realise that there’s absolutely no leadership in Pakatan Rakyat. There are no mutually understanding relationship between parties and no discipline whatsoever. Most of their problems now are their own doing and there appears to be lack of will or leadership to manage problems within the loose coalition and resolve it amicably rather than going to press all the time. 

When press reports news as it is, like the DAP Kedah’s press conference on TV, they are still considered a spin by Anwar. As observed by many Pakatan Rakyat supporters themselves, they are behaving more like opposition and not the government of the day. Many supporters also agree of their ADUNs and MPs are of poor quality and may end up being a liability in the long term unless they are monitored and disciplined when necessary.

They should heed Karpal Sing’s outbursts that Pakatan Rakyat needs fresh leaders and they should forget Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz and Abdul Hadi as they have
clearly shown that they are only good in talking and not manage their party or discipline their members.

Anwar Ibrahim or Wan Azizah can even manage their own party, how do they expect Anwar to manage such a fragile coalition? Just imagine if they are the government of the day. They will end up contradicting each other every other day since they are the government and they will always be in the limelight. 

No Leadership Change or Renewal In Pakatan Rakyat

It must be noted that while BN had their leaders replaced and renewed many times over, including change of 3 Prime Ministers in the last 6 years and various changes in the the cabinet and components parties, except for MIC, Pakatan Rakyat are still helmed by the same old leaders, who don’t appear to be inspiring at all nor do they look like future national leaders. There are some promising young leaders in Pakatan Rakyat but they unlikely to be trust in the forefront as long as the current dinosaurs are still around. 

A Clinical Psychologist used to tell me that you will see the true colours of a person or organisation when observing how they react and behave when in crisis. We saw some of it from BN component parties’ right after the general elections and throughout 2008 and we are seeing it now with the antics of Pakatan Rakyat leaders, led by their supreme demigod.

Teoh Death A Boost?

Certainly, no doubt about that, the impact if not similar, maybe bigger than Kugan’s death.

Pakatan rakyat seized the opportunity to turn Teoh’s death into a political issue and inadvertently united the squabbling faction in Pakatan Rakyat, which also boosted their image in the eyes on the public. But their statements and behavior of some leaders during the protest are anything but exemplary. Blaming the whole institution for the death is ridiculous especially when doing so without knowing any details of events, investigation or autopsy. Breaking down the door of the mortuary is certainly not an example to follow.

How long can this sustain depends very much of the outcome of investigation of Teoh’s death while if there are no efforts to manage their internal crisis well, they will lose credibility and support anyway.

As we are all well aware, Malaysians have short memory and if Najib can boost his popularity within 100 days in office, Pakatan Rakyat can either match him or go further down hill in matter of months. It all depends on good leadership, something that Pakatan is sorely lacking.

Prioritise Reforms

Najib’s so-called economic reforms are not likely to bring benefits immediately, although it may bring about some feel good factor. The earliest indication of benefits to the economic reforms are likely to be seen and felt only next year. 

Najib and team should quickly capitalise on the lean economic period to reform all the tainted government institutions such as MACC, Police and Judiciary. Before even that can happen, several tainted individuals such as the IGP, MACC head must go and they must go now. 

IPCMC must be brought to reality to prove that Najib and his cousin Home minister is serious about reforming the Police while several eminent persons, who sit on the Board of MACC must make their presence felt and take appropriate measures to restore the credibility of the institution. Take Teoh's death as an opportunity to clear the mess in these insitutions.