The Future Of PR

by | Nov 17, 2014 | Politics

It has now become more and more apparent that PAS and DAP don’t play well together. Ever since the Selangor Menteri Besar imbroglio, blows have been traded repeatedly ad nauseam

Over the past few weeks, the issue on the table has been PAS President, Dato Seri Haji Hadi Awang (HA)’s absence from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) presidential council meetings

In all fairness, HA is an elderly man and is thus more prone to sicknesses. For the sake of the betterment of PR, shouldn’t HA temporarily delegate his ultimate decision-making power to a trusted right hand man? Or at least step down in order that a physically fit person may take the helm

Yes, PAS does send its representatives (namely deputy president Mohamad Sabu and vice-president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man) for PR presidential council meetings. However, if you have been following the recent criticisms by DAP, it centers around HA having veto power and yet being absent from the meetings

Basically, whatever is agreed upon by the PAS representatives in the presidential council meetings may be overruled by HA at the end of the day. Thus, DAP has a valid point when it says that a PR presidential council meeting without HA is akin to PAS being absent

It is clearly undemocratic for a political party leader to have veto power in every matter considering other leaders are also elected by the members of the party. As cliche as it sounds, there is a lot of truth to the saying “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton)

If PAS refuses to sort out the aforementioned issues, PR’s effectiveness as a coalition would undeniably be adversely affected, and PR may need to reconsider its composition. After all, you can’t join the school but refuse to wear the uniform!

Just like when Britain entered the European Union (then known as the European Community) in 1973, it had to subject itself to EU treaties, regulations, directives, and European Court of Justice (ECJ) decisions despite having done things its own way for centuries

A good example of PR’s effectiveness being hindered would be when the PR presidential council accepted the proposal for Datuk Seri Wan Azizah to be nominated as the new Selangor MB, and HA ended up vetoing the decision and nominating candidates of his liking

Another problematic issue is PAS’ continuous insistence on implementing hudud. Prior to the 13th General Election, PAS seemed to have abandoned its hudud agenda by pursuing a benevolent state concept.

Needless to say, the whole “Pas For All” election slogan, gained PAS the votes of many non-muslims who were unsure of PAS yet wanted a regime change. However, after GE 13, PAS reverted back to advocating hudud

Since PAS is seriously considering implementing hudud in Kelantan and has taken many steps to realise it (e.g. a federal-level hudud technical committee, finalising that “trained professionals” will be carrying out the amputations), it is high time for PKR and DAP to consider whether to move on without PAS

PAS’ move may gain support from the more hard line Islamists, but it is sure to cause loss of votes for PR because DAP and PKR will be seen as being inable to influence PAS to abandon its wishes for hudud.

A PR without PAS would most definitely appeal to the more progressive Malaysians. Will we see a PR coalition without PAS/DAP? Or will we see PR end up just like Barisan Alternatif? Or will PR learn how to sort out its differences and work together? Only time will tell

On a side note, if UMNO Kelantan supports PAS’ efforts (which is has in the past), it is time for MCA, MIC, and Gerakan to reconsider its partnership in BN. After all, what’s the point of being in a coalition if your view doesn’t matter?

*This awesome article appeared in The Malay Mail Online, The Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini, and Free Malaysia Today

Who Can Stop Hudud?

by | May 13, 2014 | Misc

A reply to: Only UMNO can stop hudud

Lim Guan Eng slightly erred in saying that ONLY UMNO can stop hudud. As we all know, “a coin has two sides.” Similarly, when looking into the hudud issue, UMNO is only one side of the coin

While it is true that  “With 88 MPs in Parliament, UMNO is in the best position to stop PAS’s attempt to implement hudud,” the onus to act isn’t just on the part of UMNO. As a political ally to PAS, DAP should convince PAS to drop the idea of hudud as it is not suitable in our multi-racial and multi-religious nation. The whole problem will be solved if PAS does not table both the Private Members’ Bills

By asking UMNO to act, is DAP absolving itself from all liability? Is DAP implying that it is incapable of pressuring its ally to abandon hudud? These are questions which should linger on our minds

Pakatan Rakyat works on a concept that they will “agree to disagree” especially when it comes to controversial issues. In one sense it is good as the component members of PR wont draw it’s guns and start a friendly fire. But it also leaves a loophole that allows each party to put its own interests above that of the entire coalition

It could potentially be devastating for PR. Imagine if hudud were to be implemented in Kelantan. It would probably cost DAP A LOT of non-muslim votes at GE 14. This is because before GE 13, DAP went around gathering votes for PAS by reassuring the non-muslims that hudud would never be implemented

And in this hypothetical situation, DAP has let down its voters. Hopefully this hypothetical situation does not come to pass. Back to the million dollar question “Who can stop hudud?”, UMNO can. But so can DAP and PKR!