The cause is greater than me, Anwar tells PKR

The jailed opposition leader reminds his party to ensure that action follows talk.

PETALING JAYA: Ideals must be followed up with their execution, jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has reminded PKR members.

In an address read by his daughter Nurul Izzah at the PKR congress yesterday, Anwar also expressed his delight that the younger PKR leaders were rallying behind the cause for reform instead of around himself.

“It is refreshing to read the statements issued by the younger leaders who have been joining PKR recently,” he said. “They have emphasised the cause of empowering the people in the interest of justice and humanity.

“This platform naturally rejects tribalism or personal loyalties to Anwar and others.”

However he also warned of the trappings of political success, which he said would threaten to derail the cause.

These trappings, he said, would be brought on by the acquisition of positions and titles, and he quoted Indonesian poet W S Rendra: “The struggle is in the fulfilment of words.”

He then posed a series of rhetorical questions:

• “Are we honest in our pledge to the struggle, and not carried away by the sweet words of the attendant staff and cronies?
• “To what extent do we discuss our decisions with others?
• “Are we carried away by our egos, abilities and popularity, to the extent that we are dismissive of others?”

He warned party members against the practice of clientelism, paraphrasing Francis Fukuyama’s definition of the word: “A practice that is borderline corruption, of rewarding and awarding posts to a select few while ignoring achievements and qualifications.”

He said that effort must follow talk in the fight against tribalism and corruption so that the gap between idealism and realisation can be narrowed. Only then could the party truly address the wealth gap issue plaguing the country, he added.