Disputes will scare off voters, Pakatan warned

A Malay NGO tells DAP and PAS to stop the ongoing internal bickerings in their respective parties, or lose the support of the voters.

GEORGE TOWN: A non-governmental organisation (NGO) here has slammed the DAP and PAS over their inability to manage their internal disputes.

Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak said the manner in which these open disputes have spilled onto the glare of the public was raising some concern.

Rahmad said as an NGO, the congress would not take sides but will voice out the sentiments of the society.

“The squabbles in DAP and PAS are injustices to the people. Some feel that since the people voted them in, they should be busy serving the nation instead of squabbling among themselves.”

Rahmad added that the squabbles were a form of a political gimmick to distract the attention of the people from the actual problems of both the political organisations.

However, it was a sham to the public that both parties seemed to be quarelling to no end and on top of it, none of their top leadership has the political will to resolve it, he said in an interview.

Rahmad was referring to the spat between DAP chairman Karpal Singh and his deputy secretary-general Prof P Ramasamy.

There is also the lingering rift between former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa and former Selangor PAS commissioner Dr Hasan Ali with secretary-general Mustafa Ali and vice-president Mahfuz Omar.

He added that the public could not understand why the disputes were happening.

He said it appeared to him that the DAP dispute was over the apparent rift between Ramasamy and the Penang Indian DAP faction which was linked to Karpal.

And in PAS, he added, Nasharuddin and Hasan seemed to be the “poster boys” of the conservative faction (the ulama), which was unsettled by the progressive (Erdogan) faction.

“Is this true? Nobody knows! and if both parties continue their spat unabated and without proper engagement and constructive criticism, people would no longer care. People have better things to do,” he said.

Watershed general election
According to Rahmad (centre), the country was presently facing serious issues rather than having to wake up to only political disputes, as there was a looming global economic recession appearing on the horizon.

“This is happening just when the country is likely to participate in a watershed general election where for the first time, two groups of almost equal in strength will be fighting. Barisan Nasional would be pitted against the resurgent Pakatan Rakyat.”

The outcome may either be chaotic or smooth, dependent on the wisdom of the voters, civil societies, the security apparatus, the law and most importantly, the political parties, Rahmad said.

He urged the Penang DAP to focus on the Indian issues, which have some similarities to the plight of the poor Malay community here.

Regardless of race and religion, the poor and middle-income feel marginalised in Penang, and many were either Malays or Indians, Rahmad claimed.

He cited an example where rising property prices makes finding an affordable home impossible.

The political culture in Malaysia was also evolving from race and religious-based, to who can best perform, Rahmad said.

He said the Penang Malays were also looking at the dispute in a worried tone because they are dependent on the government.

“Many voters work in the public sector and they cannot afford to see a government in chaos. They want stability and progress. Can DAP and PAS deliver this?” Rahmad asked.