THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Russians, in response to the KAL 007 tragedy, said that the world has a memory of only 100 days. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, in turn, said that ‘Melayu mudah lupa’. And I have written a few times that actually most Malaysians, and not just Melayu, mudah lupa.
You may first want to read what Haris Ibrahim (Sam) wrote in his Blog more than two years ago on 27th October 2010 (below). Basically, this refers to our plans -- and ‘our’ here meaning the Bloggers cum political activists -- for initiating a Third Force.
This was what Sam said in his Blog posting of 27th October 2010:
Before I go any further, I want to observe and acknowledge here that many have expressed concerns and reservations about the ‘Third Force’ that has been mooted by many, myself included.
The concern has principally been about this ‘Third Force’ forcing three-corner fights in the 13th GE.
Maybe the very name, ‘Third Force’, conjures in the minds of many civil society forcing three-corner fights in the 13th GE, although I have in many posts emphasised that this is not the case.
Let me say it clearly now that that which I have been speaking of as the ‘Third Force’ is no different from the initiative and objectives that RPK now moots through the MCLM.
However, to placate the many concerned out there, let’s stop calling it the Third Force.
Let’s call it ‘Inisiatif Rakyat’ or simply IR.
The reason Sam felt he should clarify what is meant by the Third Force is because I had written about this matter earlier -- not long after the 2008 general election -- (as I also did regarding the Unity Government) and I got whacked good and proper by many people, Pakatan Rakyat leaders included. And because of that I backed off from talking about the Unity Government and the Third Force. Sam, therefore, knew he had to tread very careful when talking about this and hence he wanted to explain very clearly what we had in mind before everyone flies of the handle and goes off tangent.
Anyway, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the launching of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) in October 2010. Sam has since left, as have many others, and MCLM has been transferred into the hands of a new team, all Pakatan Rakyat supporters, may I add. I felt it is only right that this new team should take over since a vote of no confidence has been passed against me, so to speak. The only setback with this, though, is that MCLM will no longer be viewed as an independent movement or a Third Force since it is allied to Pakatan Rakyat.
But I suppose this is unavoidable since it looks like most Malaysians do not want an independent Third Force but would rather you be aligned either to Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. Malaysia is not yet ready for a Third Force. In Thailand you are either red shirt of yellow shirt. In Malaysia it is blue shirt (BN) or yellow shirt (Bersih).
In short, either back or white, no shades of grey.
Okay, when the idea of a Third Force was mooted, which subsequently saw the creation of MCLM, there must have been certain concerns at the back of our minds to prompt us to make this move. Yes, there were. And I had, in fact, already detailed my ‘Vision and Mission Statement’.
And Sam agreed with this Vision and Mission Statement although he said he would rather called it ‘Inisiatif Rakyat’ to avoid any misunderstanding of what we had in mind. However, since Malaysians muda lupa, maybe I can take you for a walk down memory lane and we can explore whether these concerns that were driving us then were misplaced or warranted.
One concern (but not in order of priority) was regarding absorbing politicians from Barisan Nasional into Pakatan Rakyat who were ‘damaged goods’ or ‘expired goods’. These people join the opposition because their ‘shelf-life’ has expired and their political career in Barisan Nasional is going downhill. Hence they join the opposition not because they are committed to reforms or because they have repented but because they are trying to reinvent themselves and attempt a second bite of the cherry.
One more concern was regarding the racial and religious politics being played by both sides of the divide, which is threatening to rip the country apart and send Malaysia back to the era of 1960s -- and which is regarded as the blackest period of Malaysia’s post-war history. We felt that unless race and religion are kept out of politics then Malaysia can never progress and it may even one day trigger a second ethnic clash like what happened in 1969.
Another issue was regarding the inter-party and intra-party quarrelling and squabbling. The members of Pakatan Rakyat are fighting with one another and even within the individual parties there is infighting. One reason for this is because there is no clear common platform, although all the parties in Pakatan Rakyat claim that there is.
Each party still has its own individual objective and aspiration, which overrides the objective and aspiration of the coalition. And unless this was resolved, this may trigger a serious crisis closer to the next general election and more so after the general election in the event that Pakatan Rakyat wins the election.
Furthermore, the fighting over seats and candidates threatens to add to this crisis if not resolved. Barisan Nasional did badly in 2008 partly because of internal sabotage due to unhappiness over seats and candidates. Pakatan Rakyat is in danger of suffering that same fate, which will jeopardise the opposition’s chances of winning the election.
Then there was the issue of election promises. In the past, voters would forget what you promised in the last general election. Hence you can make the same promises in every election and no one is going to remember that these were the old promises you made in the last election but never delivered.
Today, because of the Internet and the information revolution, people can remember what was said even ten or 20 years ago. Hence delivering on your promises is crucial. And one promise that I raised was regarding The People’s Declaration and which Anwar Ibrahim rejected back in 2010 after endorsing it in February 2008.
Further to that, last year, the Selangor Menteri Besar made a statement saying that it is not mandatory to deliver promises made in Election Manifestos. If so then why even present an Election Manifesto if you do not intend to fulfil it and you feel that you are not compelled to make good your promises?
Anyway, Pakatan Rakyat is going to present its new Election Manifesto this Monday. Let us see how much of that was from the last election’s Manifesto and how much of it was fulfilled. We can also compare it with The People’s Declaration and see how much of it has been adopted into Pakatan Rakyat’s new Election Manifesto.
I also raised the matter of good governance, transparency and accountability and how, after two-and-a-half years (as at end 2010), there are still incidences of mismanagement, abuse of power and corruption in the Pakatan Rakyat run states. The response to this was Barisan Nasional is worse. Pakatan Rakyat -- although it still happens in the opposition states -- is not that bad.
But then you are comparing states like Selangor to the federal government. Of course Barisan Nasional is worse. Barisan Nasional is the federal government. You should compare Selangor to Barisan Nasional run states like Pahang, Johor, etc. Pick on someone your own size. It is like comparing Malaysia to Singapore when Singapore should be compared to Kuala Lumpur or Penang.
Anyway, the Pakatan Rakyat leaders denied that there were ‘problems’ in their states and they challenged me to reveal the evidence to back up my allegation that there are incidences of corruption in Pakatan Rakyat run states. One issue, for example, was regarding sand mining in Selangor. Another was regarding the cronyism system in awarding legal work.
Prove it, they said. Show us the evidence, they screamed. And I did, as what they wanted. I published the evidence. However, instead of admitting the problem, they still disputed my allegation and called it a lie. They even challenged me to return to Malaysia with all the evidence. The state was even prepared to pay my expenses to return to Malaysia.
Well, those are but some of the issues I raised since late 2010. And because of that I was condemned, called a liar, accused of being bought, and much, much more.
Nevertheless, the next general election will soon be upon us. Barisan Nasional claims it will win at least 145-150 Parliament seats, which means Pakatan Rakyat is going to win only 72-79 seats. Pakatan Rakyat, in turn, says it is going to win 145-150 Parliament seats, which means Barisan Nasional is going to win only 72-79 seats.
Let us see who is right. In the meantime, more than 80% of the voters have already decided whom they will be voting for, with less than 20% undecided or on the fence. And this less than 20% are non-partisan. They do not belong to or support any political party. They just want a good government. And it is this less than 20% who will be deciding who is going to run Malaysia over the next five years. And many of this less than 20% are readers ofMalaysia Today.
And that is the Third Force I am talking about -- and have been talking about for more than three years now. And now do you understand what Malaysia Today is all about and has been doing since 2010?
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Can the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement give life to the much talked about ‘Third Force’?
Haris Ibrahim, 27 October 2010
Last Monday, RPK wrote in M-Today that he had, in 2004, “attended the inaugural meeting of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Society (MCLS)…That was six years ago and after six years nothing further has happened. This is because the MCLS is still awaiting the approval of its registration”.
I, too, was at that inaugural meeting and to this day I remain a protem committee of the MCLS that awaits registration.
I have given up waiting on the registrar of societies.
I was therefore excited to read in RPK’s posting that this coming Saturday, 30th October, he will cause to be registered in the UK the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement.
It’s objectives, as disclosed by RPK in his post, are :
1. to promote and propagate the People’s Voice & the People’s Declaration to all political parties contesting the coming general election.
2. to ‘offer’ non-political party candidates from amongst the Malaysian professionals/lawyers and the civil society movements to ALL the political parties contesting the general election that may either be short of candidates or are not able to find ‘quality’ candidates to field in the elections
In a post entitled ‘Why the mad scramble’ yesterday (READ HERE), RPK disclosed that the immediate focus of the MCLM is to engage the 3 Pakatan Rakyat parties in dialogues to try to convince them to change their system of candidate selection in the general and by-elections. This, RPK elaborates today in his ‘When you don’t trust your own people’ post (READ HERE), spotlighting two issues: first, which party gets to contest which seat and, second, the practice by political parties of naming candidates at the eleventh hour.
In three posts, RPK has summed up the concerns of so many of us about what is believed to be an imminent 13th GE that offers an opportunity displace BN from federal governance, and an opposition that does not look quite so ready to go to war and despatch BN to the Indian Ocean.
I received an e-mail last Monday inquiring if I would be willing to serve as the interim spokesperson for MCLM until this Saturday when they will officially appoint office bearers.
I replied in the affirmative, subject to getting clarification on one point. The first objective talks about making available civil society candidates to ALL parties. Did that include BN?
The reply I got was reassuring.
All non-BN parties.
I agreed to that request, for one reason only.
If you compare the objects of MCLM as disclosed by RPK with the much-discussed Third Force, I think you will find little difference between the two.
Before I go any further, I want to observe and acknowledge here that many have expressed concerns and reservations about the ‘Third Force’ that has been mooted by many, myself included.
The concern has principally been about this ‘Third Force’ forcing three-corner fights in the 13th GE.
Maybe the very name, ‘Third Force’ conjures in the minds of many civil society forcing three-corner fights in the 13th GE, although I have in many posts emphasised that this is not the case.
Let me say it clearly now that that which I have been speaking of as the ‘Third Force’ is no different from the initiative and objectives that RPK now moots through the MCLM.
However, to placate the many concerned out there, let’s stop calling it the Third Force.
Let’s call it ‘Inisiatif Rakyat’ or simply IR.
Or any other name that any of you would care to suggest.
I agreed to serve as interim spokesperson in the hope that, in that capacity, I could try to get MCLM to serve as the platform by which we push forth IR or whatever name you want to call it, to make ready for the 13th GE.
Should we try?
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
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