Growing-up pains for Pakatan in Penang

Signs of fracture are emerging in the opposition alliance which indicates not everything is smooth sailing.

GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Rakyat may be humming along on the surface in Penang but beneath it, things are not as rosy as portrayed since the alliance is said to be facing a series of “growing-up” pains.

Officially, it may put up an united front, but the alliance of DAP, PKR and PAS is caught in a triangle of suspicion, especially with the next general election looming on the horizon.

Pakatan has to deal with the pitfalls of governance where a wrong decision made can result in alienating voters, or it can cause an internal rift.

In Penang, signs of fracture are emerging, indicating that the three parties are not entirely happy with each other, especially since each is facing pressure from its own members for more seat allocations and bigger clout in governing the Pearl of the Orient.

In the past months, leaders such as Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi, Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong and Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff have began to openly question the state’s policies and the attitude of their comrades in crisis management, such as over housing policies.

On the sidelines are many more leaders who chose not to air their displeasure openly, but are agitated over the lack of attention given to their respective constituencies.

Some are also claiming that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is trying to bulldoze his way through the alliance, like what he does to the DAP but this is a different act altogether.

Pakatan is not only about DAP in Penang, said one leader.

“It comprises two other parties and there must be more time devoted to convincing all three about the benefits of new policies. There must be concerted efforts to democratise the decision-making process instead of shoving the policies down the members’ throats,” the leader said.

Level of distrust increasing

The three partners would not openly declare their misgivings, as it may erode their political influence, but internally they are not exactly hugging each other, as they have “issues” which have gone unresolved, the leader added.

In a series of interviews with a few Pakatan insiders, who preferred not to be named, it is learnt that the level of distrust among the three parties is increasing each day as the three sit down to map out strategies and seat allocations for the next election.

A veteran Penang politician, who joined Pakatan in 2008, said the alliance would definitely continue to cooperate as it is what the voters wanted when they selected a two-party system for Penang.

“We must not only respect the people’s wishes but must also fine-tune our way of dealing with each other and on how to govern with our own key performance indicators in place, unlike now, which is done on an ad hoc basis.”

For example, the politician cited the RM300 million subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition (sPICE) Centre, which was rushed through for approval. He said this had caused growing unhappiness among nine Penang Municipal (MPPP) councillors.

Besides, Lim did not allow more debate on who should head the MPPP and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).

Lim appointed two women who are apparently unpopular among the councillors, of whom many are from PAS and PKR, the veteran claims.

Both MPPP and MPSP have two presidents who do not stand out as good administrators as they are often silent when faced with public issues.

Simple majority

For now, Penang Pakatan’s main worry is the allocation of seats for the coming general election.

According to the veteran politician, PKR does not trust DAP which now has 19 state seats.

DAP needs only three more seats to be able to govern Penang alone with a simple majority of 22 seats.

There are 40 state seats in Penang, of which DAP has 19, PKR (nine), PAS (one) while Umno through Barisan Nasional has 11.

“This means DAP does not need PKR or PAS. But in reality, DAP will share the seats but it is also worried about the Malay ground due to its inability to convincingly capture their hearts,” the veteran said.

There is also the concern that if PKR and PAS lose seats, there may not be many elected Many candidates in Penang, where the Malay and Chinese voter demographic shows a slight difference.

Lim is a good leader and he does not intentionally bully people but at times, he is subconsiously overzealous in his duties to the extent of ignoring leaders of PKR and PAS, the veteran claimed.

This is also because both PKR and PAS do not have leaders who stand out nationally unlike Lim, who is constantly in the spotlight as both DAP secretary-general and chief minister, the veteran observed.

The state-level Pakatan meetings among the three have also failed to materialise since 2009.

Despite the dangers ahead, the veteran leader said, Pakatan must uphold common sense and practicality when it allocates seats for each other to contest.

“We must win convincingly to derail any attempts to sabotage us after the next election. Our solution is to govern as effectively as we preach,” he added.