The clutch of internecine feuds playing out in the DAP and PAS resemble a dog in search of its tail; few spectacles are as futile and as unedifying.
Essentially, the ‘Who said what/when?’ and ‘Who did what/when?’ character of the feuds resists easy resolution: one cannot regard politics like a forensic diagnostician because that would neglect the inescapability of ambiguity and indeterminateness in political affairs.
Hence the present wrangle between Karpal Singh and P Ramasamy in DAP and that between for Selangor PAS leader Hassan Ali and party secretary-general Mustafa Ali is irresolvable.
So the disputant who stops responding to his baiting nemesis is the wiser, for he does his part in preventing the controversy from spiraling out of control, discretion always being the better of valor.
Besides, of course, giving Umno-BN an opportunity to divert public attention from the ruling coalition’s current contagion of woes the intramural conflicts in DAP and Pas evoke a distressing lesson of classical tragedy: the long-striving protagonist, on the cusp of triumph, falls on his sword, compelled less by his flaws than by the distortion of his virtues.
Karpal’s indomitability in DAP’s long struggles has given him, not only within his party’s politics but also in Pakatan Rakyat’s, a stature that is lofty, but these days he’s not wearing that strength well.
A prickliness that ill-suits a seasoned campaigner is increasingly evident on his part, detracting from a stature acquired through the accumulation of many trials intrepidly borne.
It’s good to have the strength of indomitability but not to dominate and insist on your way. A domineering mien ill-befits an unbowed veteran of many battles.
Essentially, the ‘Who said what/when?’ and ‘Who did what/when?’ character of the feuds resists easy resolution: one cannot regard politics like a forensic diagnostician because that would neglect the inescapability of ambiguity and indeterminateness in political affairs.
Hence the present wrangle between Karpal Singh and P Ramasamy in DAP and that between for Selangor PAS leader Hassan Ali and party secretary-general Mustafa Ali is irresolvable.So the disputant who stops responding to his baiting nemesis is the wiser, for he does his part in preventing the controversy from spiraling out of control, discretion always being the better of valor.
Besides, of course, giving Umno-BN an opportunity to divert public attention from the ruling coalition’s current contagion of woes the intramural conflicts in DAP and Pas evoke a distressing lesson of classical tragedy: the long-striving protagonist, on the cusp of triumph, falls on his sword, compelled less by his flaws than by the distortion of his virtues.
Karpal’s indomitability in DAP’s long struggles has given him, not only within his party’s politics but also in Pakatan Rakyat’s, a stature that is lofty, but these days he’s not wearing that strength well.
A prickliness that ill-suits a seasoned campaigner is increasingly evident on his part, detracting from a stature acquired through the accumulation of many trials intrepidly borne.
It’s good to have the strength of indomitability but not to dominate and insist on your way. A domineering mien ill-befits an unbowed veteran of many battles.
Recalcitrants
On the PAS side, the staying power of its elected representatives is highly impressive.
The party is distinguished by the fact that, over the years of its parliamentary representation, almost no elected legislator from it has crossed the floor, to old enemy Umno.
In recent years, details about the reason for this trait have dribbled out into the public domain: apparently, before accepting the party’s candidature, the selected must take an oath to divorce his spouse should he leave the party.
Some may think this pre-condition is bizarre and demeaning, but until now no one has adduced a plausible argument against it. One can’t say it has not been effective.
In comparison with coalition partners PKR and DAP, Pas has not seen any of its elected legislators abandon ship in midstream in Pakatan’s historic transition from rank outsiders to credible pretenders to Putrajaya.
The downside of this strength is that a recalcitrant like Hassan is hard to offload.
Like Zulkifli Nordin, MP formerly of PKR and now sitting among the BN-favoring Independents, Hassan is an inveterate trouble maker; his native energy propels him to the storm’s centre.
He’s also a shrewd controversialist: he has pointed out that it was Mustafa who figured in the initial moves to talk unity with Umno on the morrow of the March 2008 political tsunami, conveniently forgetting that in Selangor on the night of March 8 he was propositioned by Umno’s Dr Khir Toyo about a possible Umno-PAS government for the state.
On the PAS side, the staying power of its elected representatives is highly impressive.
The party is distinguished by the fact that, over the years of its parliamentary representation, almost no elected legislator from it has crossed the floor, to old enemy Umno.
In recent years, details about the reason for this trait have dribbled out into the public domain: apparently, before accepting the party’s candidature, the selected must take an oath to divorce his spouse should he leave the party.
Some may think this pre-condition is bizarre and demeaning, but until now no one has adduced a plausible argument against it. One can’t say it has not been effective.
In comparison with coalition partners PKR and DAP, Pas has not seen any of its elected legislators abandon ship in midstream in Pakatan’s historic transition from rank outsiders to credible pretenders to Putrajaya.The downside of this strength is that a recalcitrant like Hassan is hard to offload.
Like Zulkifli Nordin, MP formerly of PKR and now sitting among the BN-favoring Independents, Hassan is an inveterate trouble maker; his native energy propels him to the storm’s centre.
He’s also a shrewd controversialist: he has pointed out that it was Mustafa who figured in the initial moves to talk unity with Umno on the morrow of the March 2008 political tsunami, conveniently forgetting that in Selangor on the night of March 8 he was propositioned by Umno’s Dr Khir Toyo about a possible Umno-PAS government for the state.
Difficult to keep in check
Reputedly, the talks broke down when Hassan insisted that he be the menteri besar.
The man has what Macbeth acknowledged in himself – “vaulting ambition” that overreaches and causes problems all round.
PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim should something about Hassan’s overweening self, because he offered the latter the deputy MB’s post when he was composing the Pakatan administration
for the state.
Khalid must have gone on to regret the offer, because he has had nothing but recalcitrance from Hassan, who holds the religious portfolio in the state cabinet.
Suffice, it’s going to be difficult to keep Hassan’s vaulting self in check, just as the DAP are going to find it hard to check Karpal
Karpal’s prickliness in matters pertaining to territorial baronetcy.
The consolation is that the opposition-supporting public is now somewhat ahead of some of the more refractory legislators they helped elect in the March 2008 tsunami.
They, who have taken their time to awake to the necessity for political change in Malaysia, are now determined to see the change through to its culmination in supplanted governance by Pakatan.
It would help sustain that determination if some of the less blinkered among Pakatan leaders show a politic restraint in wrangles with a Tartuffe or two in their midst.
The man has what Macbeth acknowledged in himself – “vaulting ambition” that overreaches and causes problems all round.
PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim should something about Hassan’s overweening self, because he offered the latter the deputy MB’s post when he was composing the Pakatan administration
for the state.
Khalid must have gone on to regret the offer, because he has had nothing but recalcitrance from Hassan, who holds the religious portfolio in the state cabinet.
Suffice, it’s going to be difficult to keep Hassan’s vaulting self in check, just as the DAP are going to find it hard to check Karpal
Karpal’s prickliness in matters pertaining to territorial baronetcy.
The consolation is that the opposition-supporting public is now somewhat ahead of some of the more refractory legislators they helped elect in the March 2008 tsunami.
They, who have taken their time to awake to the necessity for political change in Malaysia, are now determined to see the change through to its culmination in supplanted governance by Pakatan.
It would help sustain that determination if some of the less blinkered among Pakatan leaders show a politic restraint in wrangles with a Tartuffe or two in their midst.
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