Expect better candidates


By Oon Yeoh, The Sun

THE Malaysian political system received a huge jolt in 2008 when we suddenly became a two-party (or two-coalition) country.

You had the government, Barisan Nasional, on one side and you had the Opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, on the other. And now, you have a so-called third force (or forces, to be accurate, as there are several of them).

The first to emerge was Konsensus Bebas, which consists of MPs who were sacked or had left PR on bad terms. They insist that they are independent but their comments inside and outside of Parliament clearly show them to be BN-friendly.

Perhaps that’s understandable given the circumstances that led them to leaving PR but for them to insist that they are truly independent is not quite accurate. It would be interesting to see them run for office in the next general election.

If they were to force three-cornered fights in certain constituencies, such candidates would probably end up hurting BN because PR supporters see them for what they are: BN-friendly independents. Such candidates will not steal votes away from PR.

Then you have the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) whose membership consists of those who are generally well-respected within civil society circles. For example, its president, Haris Ibrahim, would never be mistaken for a BN supporter.

It’s precisely because of this that MCLM could be a threat to PR, though that’s not its intention. If it enters into three-cornered fights it would steal votes away from PR as its candidates would espouse values closer to PR’s positions than BN’s.

So, it very much has the potential to be a spoiler though what it wants is to send better candidates to Parliament.

The modus operandi in the past has been for opposition-friendly independents to contest under an opposition party banner. They would usually join the party too. Charles Santiago, who ran under the DAP ticket, is a example of this. Some, however, choose to stay independent and in fact, end up becoming a foe of the Opposition. Ibrahim Ali, who contested under the PAS ticket, is an example of this.

PKR has indicated that it would be willing to let MCLM candidates contest under its banner but they would have to join the party and toe the party line. MCLM seems to be averse to this. It doesn’t want to toe any party line.

So, the natural question is what happens when push comes to shove and no one gives way? A three-cornered fight? Would MCLM and its supporters be happy if in the end, the BN emerged winner of such fights? Surely not. As such both PR and MCLM would do well to engage each other and come up with some formula or compromise that makes sense.

Lastly, we’ve got Kita, the new party headed by Zaid Ibrahim who was sacked from Umno and then joined PKR only to leave it when things didn’t go his way. Last week the big news was that Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng was joining Kita. Like Zaid, Tan had been sacked by his original party, Gerakan, only to join PKR and then to leave it. I guess birds of a feather flock together.

Zaid is not blatantly BN-friendly as the Konsensus Bebas guys (of which Tan used to be a part of) although he has been critical of PR and especially PKR. How he and his candidates would affect the outcome of a three-cornered fight is less obvious than in the case of Konsensus Bebas or MCLM candidates.

Whatever the case, PR has got its work cut out. In all likelihood there will be no straight fights with BN. Since it cannot stop others from contesting – and playing the role of spoilers, intentionally or otherwise – what PR has to do is to put up top-notch candidates, which was far from the case the last time.



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