THE CANCER IN PAKATAN RAKYAT

Many who voted Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 and 2013 are now very disillusioned with the opposition. The Kajang Move, the conspiracy to oust the Selangor Menteri Besar, the conflicting and contradicting statements by the opposition leaders, the inter-party bickering, the internal party squabbles, the power struggles, the arrogance of power, the deviation from the struggle, and many more, are making those who consider themselves Pakatan Rakyat supporters quite fed up.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

What is happening in Selangor today? Why is there a cancer in Pakatan Rakyat? Why do they want Khalid Ibrahim ousted as Menteri Besar? Why is Umno Selangor so weak that it cannot capitalise on the problems facing Pakatan Rakyat and why will Umno never be able to retake Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat?

Umno, in particular in Selangor, is a party of warlords. There will always be taikos but amongst those many taikos there must be one taipan — or capo dei capi (boss of all bosses). In Noh Omar’s case, however, he may imagine himself as one of the Umno warlords but he is a very weak taiko at best and certainly far from a taipan or capo dei capi.

If Umno wants to retake Selangor then Noh Omar has to go. In fact, many of the other so-called taikosalso have to go. If not Selangor will remain under Pakatan Rakyat for quite some time to come and Umno can continue dreaming about taking back the state.

We need to understand why the voters vote the way they do. Some vote for PAS because they love Islam. Some vote for DAP because they want a party that can defend and uphold Chinese interests, in particular regarding Chinese schools and Chinese education. Some vote PKR because they think that party is the face of the future, a multi-racial or multi-cultural Malaysia. Some vote opposition (never mind which of the three parties) because they hate Umno.

Whatever it may be you have a reason as to why you vote the way you vote and there is not just one reason involved here.

Umno knows that many people are voting opposition not because they love the opposition but because they hate Umno. However, while Umno may know this, they do not know what to do about it. They are totally clueless as to what corrective measures to take.

Umno also knows that Noh Omar is a disaster and probably an idiot to boot but then again they do not know who should replace him. Noh Omar may be an idiot but the other alternatives are even bigger idiots. Unfortunately, all the good people are not in Umno but are in the opposition.

Hence Umno Selangor will remain insignificant and Pakatan Rakyat can continue making one mistake after another, like they are doing now, and it is not going to help Umno one bit. Even when Pakatan Rakyat shoots itself in its foot Umno cannot exploit that to its own advantage.

The 2008 general election was unique. You can even say it was historical. It was basically a peoples’ movement that determined the outcome of that general election. The 2007 Bersih and Hindraf demonstrations were reflective of this. Even Barisan Nasional supporters were involved in and strongly supported both Bersih and Hindraf. That, more or less, was the turning point for Malaysian politics.

In 2013, the voters decided to give the opposition a second term because one term is not enough to determine how well Pakatan Rakyat can perform. In Kedah, however, they decided that one term is enough mainly because of what they view as a very stubborn Menteri Besar who did not really care about what the voters want.

In fact, that was also what happened in Terengganu in 2004. The Terengganu voters decided that one term was enough. And this was because the federal government starved the state of development funds and the Terengganu people could not endure the hardship of no development and no money (unlike those in Kelantan who do not mind eating cake, as the saying goes). So they gave the state back to Umno.

So now we are in our second term of opposition rule, at least in Selangor and Penang. In Kelantan it is easy. It is basically PAS rule. In Penang it is DAP rule. So it is very simple and if you support PAS or DAP you know what you have to do. In Selangor it is a bit more complicated. It is Pakatan Rakyat rule with an almost one-third each split of seats and power between PAS, DAP and PKR (15+15+14).

So this is not about the love for each respective party but about how the opposition coalition performs as a state government. And note that this is where most of the middle class lives where it is estimated that 70% of the wealth and purchasing power is as well. Furthermore, the voters here are more educated and intelligent.

Most people in the urban areas are anti-establishment by nature. This is the same the world over. So they will vote opposition sometimes for the heck of it. But they do not have ‘brand loyalty’ like the voters in the rural areas. They are able to change their mind if they think they are getting a raw deal. RM50 or newly built roads during the election campaign is not enough to buy their votes.

Many who voted Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 and 2013 are now very disillusioned with the opposition. The Kajang Move, the conspiracy to oust the Selangor Menteri Besar, the conflicting and contradicting statements by the opposition leaders, the inter-party bickering, the internal party squabbles, the power struggles, the arrogance of power, the deviation from the struggle, and many more, are making those who consider themselves Pakatan Rakyat supporters quite fed up.

I was fed up earlier, back in 2010 to be exact, and I already stated my stand four years ago. At that time, of course, I was amongst the very few so I got whacked to kingdom come and was called all sorts of nasty names. Today, many, even hardcore Pakatan Rakyat supporters, are saying exactly what I have been saying over the last four years.

Four years ago in 2010 I detected the cancer in Pakatan Rakyat. And I stated why I felt that there was a cancer. It was still around stage one cancer and hence could have been cured quite easily. However, most felt that I was merely trying to sabotage the opposition, maybe as a paid assassin. I admit that I lost almost all my friends and now practically live the life of a recluse here in Manchester.

Today, four years on, the cancer has reached stage three. Though it is still not yet at the final stage it is definitely at a very dangerous level that may in the end prove incurable.

The present crisis in Selangor is not the problem. It is the symptom of the problem. So we cannot solve the crisis, which is merely the symptom of the problem. We need to address the cause of the problem.

And what is the cause of the problem? Well, for four long years I have been writing article after article about what the real problem is. And I warned that we should stop talking about the symptom and stop trying to cure the symptom, which is no bloody good. Instead, we should attack the cause and address that.

And I will stop here and allow you to reflect on what this cause is and see if you can remember what I have been saying over the last four years since 2010 plus ask yourself whether you still think I was talking cock all these years.