Perak opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari wants to challenge former menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu for the Tambun parliamentary seat when the 15th general election (GE15) rolls around.
Bucking the trend of DAP MPs, such as Lim Kit Siang and Ong Kian Ming, deciding not to run in GE15, Aziz is volunteering for double duty.
"I made a promise to the party that I would defend my state seat in Tebing Tinggi, but I'm also hoping to tackle Peja (Faizal's nickname) in Tambun.
"To be honest, I don't think he has done much on the ground. I can't see where the allocation to run the constituency is going," Aziz told Malaysiakini.
"This is not personal with Peja, just that I am holding a seat close to him and have been working in the area, with schools, environmental groups and so on. I believe there are some areas where I can contribute. It will definitely be a three-cornered fight with BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN)," he added.
Aziz said he didn't foresee any conflicts if DAP decides to field him in both state and parliamentary seats.
"It's the exception rather than the rule, but there are some like the chief ministers of Sarawak and Penang as well as Azmin Ali, Lim Guan Eng, Shafie Apdal and Baru Bian. All are doing double duty as MP and state representatives," he added.
‘Age not an issue’
Aziz admitted that the recent announcement by his party colleague Ong to not contest in the coming GE, took him by surprise.
"I think with Kit Siang maybe the change was inevitable as he has served many years, but Ong was quite a shock to me, as he's very young, around 47.
"It looks to me that it's due to the results of the recent party election. Grassroots wanted a different direction," said Aziz, who failed to get elected to the party's central committee similar to Ong.
A number of observers have called for the retirement of veterans like Kit Siang, former premiers Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Abdul Razak; former ministers Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Rais Yatim; as well as PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
However, Aziz was not convinced that was the answer.
"As for generational change, I think it's a matter of choice. Just because one is elderly doesn't mean you should leave. Age to me is not the issue. We mustn't forget that politics is about the freedom of the people to make their own choice - good or bad, right or wrong," he added.
Nonetheless, the former law lecturer said that a lot of messages have failed to reach the grassroots, which can be easily misdirected.
"I consider myself an accidental and amateur politician. Years before I joined politics, I was contemplating how to put a bridge between constitutional law and the people.
"When I came back from my post-graduate studies in the UK (University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham) in the late 1990s, I saw that people were too scared to talk about the monarchy, Islam, Internal Security Act (ISA) and other important topics that were important.
"The moment you come up with comments, somebody makes a police report,” Aziz said.
The Sabak Bernam, Selangor native pointed out that the main problem is that people don't understand why these topics even became taboo.
“It was very much a case of the letter of the law being removed from the man on the street.
"Those days, it was a luxury. Now there is a huge pool of experts around," he joked.
“Actually there must have been some semblance of academic freedom, otherwise I wouldn’t have been promoted to full professor in 2003 and allowed to maintain a column in theSun.”
Eventful spell with PKR
Aziz's outspoken views landed him in trouble when he made comments about the Selangor sultan following a controversial action by Muslim religious authorities against a Methodist church for proselytisation.
"In 2010, I became persona non grata and was not even allowed to enter my own office at the International Islamic University Malaysia. I think a group aligned to Umno alleged there was work to Christianise Muslims, but we found no such thing. I said it was not right, and there were police reports lodged against me, a bullet sent to my house," he recalled.
"For quite some years before, I had been facing this dilemma because I was among the few academics who were willing to come forward with my views. Eventually, I took the plunge (into politics).
“Actually Anwar asked me to be a PKR candidate as far back as 2007, and Ronnie Liu asked me to join DAP in 2009, but I declined both at the time.
“It was only after I had to leave the university, I entered the ring reluctantly,” he said.
In the 2013 general election, Aziz contested as PKR's candidate for the Sabak Bernam parliamentary seat and lost to Umno's Mohd Fasiah Fakeh by a narrow margin of 1,644 votes.
"For a first outing, it was not so bad. But I saw a problem within the party. I think I lost partly because of a mini-sabotage internally.
"The party polls that followed the 2013 election were very messy and costly. Eventually, I was kicked out, and I realised that it was due to the cartel aligned to Azmin," he claimed.
At the time, Aziz said there was even the suggestion that he move towards joining Amanah.
"At the same time that I was forced to leave PKR, there was conflict within PAS and the purge of its progressive wing by Hadi’s followers. Then they left to form Amanah, but somehow I wasn't invited.
“I accept the political party system as a vehicle of change, but I’m not good at it.
"However, around August 2017, not far from the GE, I was brought into (DAP) through (Damansara MP) Tony Pua. I was in Selangor at the time.
"Then DAP nominated me as an MPAJ councillor, but it was rejected. I heard that the suggestion I would be nominated to the Dewan Negara was also shot down. But in early 2018, Nga Kor Ming called me up to come to Ipoh. And move from Selangor to Perak," he said.
The gamble paid off with Aziz winning the Tebing Tinggi state seat comfortably by 3,927 votes against BN's Khoo Boon Chuan as part of the historic GE14 which saw Umno/BN lose federal power for the first time.
Aziz was given the education, environment, green technology and information portfolio in the Pakatan Harapan state government led by Faizal. However, that same individual triggered the collapse of the administration.
DAP slowly changing
While there have been disappointments, Aziz believes that leaders and the people need to keep plugging away despite them.
Asked about the odd position of being in a party that is ostensibly multi-racial but presents a leadership that looks as if it represents minority rights, he said he wished more Malays would join DAP.
"It's difficult to deny that DAP has one Malay MP out of 42, or that the central committee is also dominated by one race. This is the reality.
“DAP is a political party, and it has stuck to its power base. It can't be too idealistic, or it will lose its footing.
"The party has evolved this way because of the need to champion certain issues which are of no interest to other parties, especially the Malay parties. DAP is making some adjustments, but it's still happening slowly.”
While he joined the party by coincidence, Aziz considered himself part of the team.
“Despite what some say, I think it plays a viable role in politics, and more Malays should join," he added. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.