Time to get real over who the real enemy is

After the bitter tussle over seat allocations for the Sarawak election, PKR and DAP should stop kidding themselves by saying it is still BN who is their real enemy.

COMMENT

By TK Chua

In the midst of seat tussles between DAP and PKR in the upcoming Sarawak election, both have claimed that their real enemy is not each other but Barisan Nasional (BN).

My question is – why engage in such empty and useless talk?

They could not be more wrong. BN is not their primary enemy. Their real enemies are the combination of their acute myopia, their inability to compromise, their missing the forest for the trees and their craving for power over real reforms. It is futile to blame who caused the present impasse. The damage has been done.

If both parties yearn for real reforms and good governance, why is compromise so difficult? If their words are to be believed, surely there is nothing much to choose between PKR and DAP in terms of policies and programmes. Both have claimed to represent clean, inclusive and people centric governance. Surely a sacrifice here or a sacrifice there is worthwhile to attain the bigger objective.

I am afraid both DAP and PKR have aims larger than their own reform agendas. They think Sarawak is ripe for the picking. They have set their sights to take control of the state. Obviously, both DAP and PKR have not learned the term “pyrrhic victory.”

As ordinary citizens, we too have begun to doubt their true intentions. Is their reform agenda real? Can we truly expect a clean and fair government from these two parties should they ever attain victory?

True reformists should be able to see the big picture. They should be able to sacrifice short-term setbacks for long-term gains. I do not know what lurks in the minds of DAP and PKR leaders but to me a few seats less in exchange for a better government is certainly worth the consideration.

What happened between DAP and PKR, and before this, between DAP and PAS and PAS and Amanah, have disappointed many Malaysians. However these events have also made us more realistic about the plight we are currently facing.

Politicians are like preachers; watch what they do, not just what they say. I am no longer as enthusiastic about the politics of the Opposition as I was before, are you?

TK Chua is an FMT reader