Pakatan’s year of distractions

IN George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm, oppressed farm animals banded together to overthrow their human masters who had neglected and ill-treated them.

The animals were successful in gaining their independence and the farm thrived. However, as years passed, they started conniving against one another and a power struggle ensured.

The result was one animal banished and another retaining leadership. Later on, some animals forged new alliances with other humans, much to the dismay of the other farm animals.

The old rules of oppression were re-instated and these animals even started dressing as humans and walking upright.

Orwell’s classic was written in part to illustrate his opposition to England building an alliance with Stalinist Russia to fight Nazi Germany.

While I will never equate the make-up of the year-old Pakatan Harapan government to farm animals, the conduct of the parties and leaders these last 12 months certainly brings to mind excerpts from this definitive piece of classic literature.

From the reinstatement of mega projects that during the election campaign were billed as “unnecessary” and the continuation of policies once billed as “bad” under a different name, to the appointment of individuals who were facing corruption charges into high office, the classifying of crucial information of the nation’s economic health under the Official Secrets Act, media blackouts, and renewing alliances with a once sworn enemy – these issues make us wonder if we had taken one step forward and two steps back since May 9, 2018.

The Malaysian public may be impatient for change but at the same time many are realistic when it comes to the daunting task of running a country by a largely inexperienced motley crew of strange bedfellows.

The mantra “you cannot undo 61 years in one year”, however, is an overused excuse of not living up to the people’s expectations.

Remedying questionable policies, addressing corrupt systems and improving race relations after divisive general elections since 2008 will be a long and painful process.

However, this government and its component parties seem to be distracted by their own insecurities instead of forging ahead in implementing the “manifesto of hope”.

Addressing the economy and strengthening the nation’s fiscal health should be foremost on its agenda.

Pakatan started off on the right track by focusing on reviewing some mega projects viewed as either unnecessary or inflated to enrich certain factions within the Barisan Nasional leadership and the party war chest.

Whether the formation of the politburo called the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) was the conduit for it remains a debate, especially with its leader Tun Daim Zainuddin wielding power, if not more influence over the Cabinet.

The CEP is the dotted line in the organisational chart between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

But this is a Cabinet which in its infancy decided to ratify international conventions that were bound to be trigger points for the Malay nationalistic movement.

While being signatories to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court would be a great achievement for our standing in the global community, it is not something that needs to be done now.

Strategically, these initiatives were unnecessary at this time, especially when Malay support still eludes Pakatan. They only achieved discomfort and insecurity and played into the hands of Umno and PAS, whose fear-mongering succeeded in Pakatan backtracking on its plan and showing itself up as a flip-flop government afraid of its own shadow.

The public run-ins with two Sultans – Johor and Kelantan when the latter was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong – was a public spat that strengthened the narrative of Malays and the Constitutional monarchy being threatened by the current government.

By the second quarter of the Pakatan administration, the economy started to take a backseat to internal politics, where a real or imagined tussle for the No 2 spot started to play out between Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s announced (though not necessarily “anointed”) successor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

That Anwar will take over remains the official narrative. But how will this narrative play into a largely expanded Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia remains to be seen.

Dr Mahathir’s party rode into power along with Pakatan, but with just 13 parliamentary seats. Yet today, it has managed to penetrate Sabah and boasts 26 parliamentary seats with crossovers from Umno.

According to several Bersatu leaders, another 30 Umno MPs are ready to jump ship. They bring not just numbers to make Bersatu the largest coalition partner in Pakatan, but also much needed funds for the party’s war-chest.

If such political manoeuvrings are true, then it throws the succession plan wide open.

Which is why in spite of everything it has achieved, a stable succession plan counts as Pakatan’s biggest failures.

A responsible government formed by a fragile coalition led by a 94-year-old would ensure the people and investors that there would be a smooth transition of power in the event the prime minister’s seat falls vacant.

Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has shown her mettle in keeping the opposition united and the “reformasi” movement alive and relevant for 20 years. However, her performance as Deputy Prime Minister has been fraught with criticisms of inexperience and faux pas.

Confidence levels are not high for her to step in as Acting Prime Minister.

If Anwar is indeed Dr Mahathir’s successor as both men have repeatedly said since last year – as well as in 1998 before the latter sacked the former as his then deputy – then it is about time he be part of the decision-making process in Cabinet.

This will ensure consistency in the implementation of policies and Cabinet decisions.

The Official Secrets Act does not grant Anwar access to Cabinet papers. The weekly meetings he has with Dr Mahathir make for good optics, but what exactly he is being briefed on is anyone’s guess.

Perhaps in its second year in running the country, there will be some clarity on a succession plan to put us at ease. At the same time, Pakatan should return to its priority: fixing the economy, raising wages, and being creative in bringing in investments.

This will help appease the angry young Malay youth who are still struggling to eke out a living, which makes “Bossku” such a huge draw. After all, one can only blame Datuk Seri Najib Razak and 1Malaysia Development Bhd for so long.

Terence Fernandez is an award-winning journalist, as well as a stakeholder relations and reputation management consultant.- Star