YOURSAY | Congress over, PKR must now take the fight to Najib

 

YOURSAY | ‘Do not let him get away unchallenged each time he spins the facts.’

Rafizi orders PKR members to start countering Najib's 'lies'

Vijay47: Going through the closing speeches by its various leaders, it is quite clear that PKR will not be taking home any prize for innovativeness. Whatever was proposed was obvious, nobody ventured outside the box.

On the other hand, the good news is that all appeared to be on the same page even if deputy president Rafizi Ramli’s call carried a touch of sneering belligerence.

The race has been run, the party elections are over, and the battles fought.

As everyone agrees, it is now time for consolidation where PKR winners and losers come together, strengthening and extending its contribution towards one common objective – Pakatan Harapan’s success in the forthcoming general elections.

Painful as it might be for the party, PKR was the group that saw the biggest number of traitors with both assemblypersons and parliamentarians jumping ship like there was no tomorrow.

Worse, this betrayal included a traitor at the supreme level of leadership. Let us hope that he gets his just desserts in Gombak soon.

Achieving loyalty and steadfastness is, of course, easier said than done. Every party is vulnerable to temptation, except perhaps a certain coalition with their coffers overflowing with funds.

Harapan can never match Umno’s wealth; nevertheless, exposing former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for what he is need not be beyond reach.

The urban centres look relatively safe, they are now in PKR’s, Amanah’s, and Muda’s hands to win over a respectable portion of the Malay hinterland.

Coward: This is what we call an emerging leader. It shows the tactical side of Rafizi.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim was once like that back in the 1970s and 1980s. Normally, you don’t expect this type of antics from a party deputy president. Rafizi is behaving more like a Youth wing leader.

Vice-presidents and deputy presidents are supposed to be more strategically oriented, and less likely to be involved in individual battles as Rafizi did.

However, PKR needs a morale boost going into the 15th general election. Given how the previous administration did not manage to raise morale, Rafizi is starting the fire for them.

However, he needs to get out of the fire business soon and on the important strategy stuff.

Rafizi is starting with Najib. He is concentrating all his work on one person for maximum success. Spreading his forces to attack multiple targets is in Rafizi’s opinion not a good use of his political capital.

If he succeeds, it might not be necessary to expend too much power on other lesser targets. Crucially, he gets a morale boost. Even if he didn't get Najib, Rafizi is showing leadership.

Most importantly, it is a target with a clear objective, it resonates with the people, and it proves to his critics that he is not only all talk.

Mugi: Please do not limit this challenge to former Umno president Najib only.

Some Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s cabinet members, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, and many more should be the focus of the Harapan team as well.

To pre-empt the enemy from using race, religion and royalty to counter-attack, Harapan should have a strategy on who should handle what type of issues.

We noted that PAS has been very rude to the royalty lately, especially Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. Someone from Harapan should lecture PAS on this.

The non-Malays in Harapan should not touch on the above issue but can assist behind the scenes, for example.

Unresolved issues in Sabah and Sarawak should be championed by the Sabahans and Sarawakians respectively, with the help of Harapan members in the Peninsular.

MS: Indeed. Take off the gloves, take the fight to Najib and do not let him get away unchallenged each time he spins the facts to appear as if he is the persecuted one.

When Democrat Bill Clinton challenged then-Republican president George Bush in 1992, James Carville and his team set up a rapid response team to counter every lie and half-truth put out by the Republicans.

It worked like magic, put them on the backfoot and had them scrambling when challenged with indisputable facts.

PKR (and Harapan) need a "take-no-prisoners" Carville whose in-your-face communication style won the day. That, and the laser-like focus of the Clinton team, got them the results.

Rafizi is perhaps the only person in PKR with the guts and the gumption to pull it off.

IndigoTrout2522: Yes, fact check and expose Najib’s lies but be careful not to glorify him or make him a hero. Expose him in the context of his corruption and how the rakyat suffer because of it.

This should be only a part of the campaign. PKR and Harapan still must come up with a new narrative of its vision for the people and what you can do differently from BN and PN.

Admit the party’s inability to follow up on its manifesto during the 22-month rule and how you can change and do better.

The new leadership in PKR and DAP must inspire the people to see hope in the future, especially in areas they care about most - the economy, job, inflation, business, cost of living, education, unstable political environment, the depreciating currency, etc. - Mkini