In a move that will delight her supporters, PKR president Wan Azizah Wah Ismail has revealed she may contest a state seat at the 13th general election, which has to be called by mid next year.
"The party is thinking of suitable places for me. Even though I have the choice to choose any constituency I wish to contest in, I still need to get feedback from supporters," she told Malay daily Sinar Harian.
Azizah quit her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in favor of her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition Leader in2008. The Penang seat was Anwar's stronghold, which he was forced to surrender in 1998 after former premier Mahathir Mahathir jailed him on trumped-up sodomy charges that have since been over-turned.
Azizah's announcement is not unexpected as the Pakatan Rakyat opposition goes all out to field a 'Dream Team' against Prime Minister Najib Razak in GE-13.
"There is every chance that this Dream Team will make history. If we topple BN, this will be the first regime change in Malaysia in 5 decades. It won't be a fair or clean fight. Pakatan will need all the fire power and big names it can get to win," PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Ensuring PKR stays open to young talent
Indeed, the Pakatan trio of PKR, PAS and DAP are reckoned to have more than an even chance of beating Najib's BN despite the latter's superior financial resources and access to government machinery.
Even Anwar, whom the BN has tried to discredit by labeling his Pakatan leadership as a mere effort to quench his personal thirst to be PM, has bluntly announced that if Malaysians let go of this opportunity, he would retire and let the "new generation" take over.
Anwar's remark immediately set off a furor of criticism, with Mahathir leading the BN charge and accusing Anwar of trying to gain voter sympathy. But to many seasoned watchers, beneath the Umno hysteria is actually the fear that more young Malay talent will cross over to join PKR and its sister parties.
In the BN, especially Umno, access to the top echelons of power is restricted and only possible with the patronage of the incumbent ruling elite. For example, without Mahathir's approval, no Malay leader whether young or old, senior or junior, could climb the Umno ladder to any significant height.
By opening up possibilities for the young, Anwar is the first to make the 'sacrifice' to ensure a succession of fresh blood and young talent flows in to his PKR party.
Impressive talent bank and growing still
At the moment, there is no dearth of successors to the throne in PKR, PAS or DAP.
Leaders like Tony Pua, Nizar Jamaluddin, Khalid Samad, Dzulkefly Ahmad, Nurul Izzah, Tian Chua, N Surendran, Fuziah Salleh and Teresa Kok are household names. And this list not exclusive. On par and waiting at the wings are DAP's very impressive Anthony Loke, Nga Kor Ming, Zairul Khir Johari, PKR's Chegubard, Aziz Bari, Rafizi Ramli, Wong Chen and PAS' Dr Siti Mariah.
As for claims that Pakatan lacks experience, there is no shortage of golden veterans - from Anwar himself, to Hadi Awang, the incomparable Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Nik Aziz, Lim Guan Eng and Chua Jui Meng. These steady hands are obviously much needed to steer Pakatan to a victorious GE-13. Indeed, big names count a lot with the electorate, hence Azizah's decision to throw her hat into the ring.
At the core, decisions about Malaysia's future should boil down to which coalition has the bigger talent bank because the problems the nation faces after 5 decades of financial mismanagement and deliberate social segregation are tough indeed to solve.
However, chances are high that Najib and BN may try to hijack the real agenda behind the people's wish for reform and change by threatening violence should the Umno-BN lose power.
"What we see through the turnout at our ceramah (rallies) and the feedback from talking to the people is that they are not really so scared of Umno and BN anymore. They seem quite serious about wanting a new government, and if Najib is ill-advised enough to use force on the people to cling on, he will only hasten his own disgrace. I think the Bersih 3.0 rally proves it," said Tian.
He was referring to the shock 250,000-strong crowd that thronged the vicinity of the Dataran Merdeka sit-in protest for clean elections. It was by far Malaysia's largest-ever demonstration and panicked Najib into ordering one of the bloodiest police crackdowns in recent history.
After Haj but not next year
Meanwhile, perhaps sensing the longer Najib waited, the worse result the BN will achieve, Mahathir has reiterated his call for GE-13 to be held after the October Haj season.
"I predict the elections will be held after Hari Raya and the pilgrimage period. If it's going to be next year, then I don't know when," Mahathir was reported as saying by the Berita Harian newspaper over the weekend.
His advice comes as Najib directs the Attorney-General to check if there any legal issues should he decide to call for polls only when the BN's full mandate expires at midnight on April 27, 2013.
Malaysia Chronicle
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