A good turn – Rafizi’s push for civility and ideational politics

 Rafizi Ramli wants civility to accompany the politics of competing ideas in a new era of Malaysian politics.

From Terence Netto

Rafizi Ramli, the former PKR dissident and presently the driver behind new-fangled Parti Bersama Malaysia, is a man of ideas.

After announcing his new political vehicle, Bersama, he has wasted no time in coming up with suggestions as to what should characterise a new phase of politics in Malaysia.

This is that civility should mark its discourse and that competition should revolve around ideas espoused by parties and individuals.

Both features go together: if you want to talk about ideas, the less emotive you are, the clearer your thought is.

Rafizi made the plea for civility when asserting he is still friends with his ex-PKR colleagues now that he has decamped for Bersama.

He said he did not wish to see a situation where leaders adopted the attitude of: “You are either with me or against me.”

This tribalism is obsolete in an era in which Rafizi wants to see ideas compete for allegiance in the political arena, in preference to leaders vying for undiscerning followers.

This would raise the level of intellection in political discourse, which is far preferable to the neo-feudalistic attachment to charismatic leaders by followers caring little for the content of what they are supporting and swayed by image rather than reality.

Rafizi is emboldened by his estimate that 35-40% of the Malaysian electorate are of progressive bent, which would conduce to sending 80 to 90 MPs to Parliament.

Rafizi posited these figures to claim that Pakatan Harapan, the coalition in which he had been a central figure, would continue to enjoy parliamentary support even as he campaigns for Bersama, the newest kid on the block, so to speak.

By arguing in this manner, it is clear that Rafizi, astride his new political vehicle, is in for the long haul in Malaysian politics.

This could well mean he wants to free our political discourse from an obsessive concentration on race and religion.

The vise-like grip of these two issues has poisoned our political discourse and prevented engagement on the deeper issues of equality of citizens, economic growth and educational advancement.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

It is good to know that Rafizi has taken that step while aware that the journey is dauntingly long. - FMT

Terence Netto is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT