Opposition politicians too ‘big-headed’ for their own good

They are unwilling to yield and compromise when necessary to set their sight on the wider and more important objectives.

COMMENT

By T K Chua

For a long time, I believed opposition politicians were operating under difficult circumstances. They face enormous challenges in terms of lack of resources, an uneven playing field and harassment.

But I think it is more than that. Opposition politicians are also too “sanctimonious” and too “big-headed” for their own good. They are unwilling to yield and compromise when necessary to set their sights on the wider and more important objectives.

They were in disarray over the hudud issue for some time. Just as they have mitigated the fallout, new issues have emerged.

There are clear tell-tale signs opposition leaders are wary of each other and are “big-headed” at the same time. They like to make policy statements without taking into consideration the concerns of coalition partners. These are not signs of tolerance and conciliation but one of arrogance and conceit.

If they have the noble objective to save the country as they often claim, they should focus less on who should become the PM. I am sure they can find a way to circumscribe the power of PM to satisfy the overall objective of the coalition if they are creative enough. The constant tussle over the post seems to suggest that they are far from “noble” and magnanimous.

When Kit Siang made a statement supporting Husam Musa as the menteri besar of Kelantan should Pakatan Harapan (PH) come to power, suddenly there were strong adverse reactions from Amanah and PKR. My question is why.

May be Kit Siang shouldn’t have made the statement. But may be too Amanah and PKR shouldn’t have shown too much concern on who will become the MB of Kelantan. I believe all this can be discussed behind closed doors after the election. It is foolish and damaging to flex their respective muscles now. No one is impressed.

What about MP Jeyakumar of PSM suing A Sivanesan of DAP, the Sungkai state assemblyperson. What kind of message is the opposition sending to the people of Perak, a front line state? According to news reports, there were attempts made to compromise and to avoid the lawsuit. But I think there is lack of sincerity and resolve. They have not tried harder because they fail to see the grave implications of their actions.

In addition to the above, we have a PKR MP who is now having an “audit problem” with the PKR led state government. We also have a senior DAP MP who has been incommunicado from party leaders since early this year. Seriously, have they even thought about the implications of all this?

I think opposition politicians should talk less about saving the country if they are not able to compromise and show unity, magnanimity and conciliation towards each other.

T K Chua is an FMT reader.