Pakatan arrogant in Selangor MB crisis?
Lim Mun Fah, My Sinchew
After the hudud controversies, they now find themselves embroiled in the Selangor MB crisis. I have no idea how Pakatan Rakyat’s supporters and sympathisers will feel seeing the crisis triggered by the internal conflicts within the opposition pact.
Anyone who has the slightest knowledge of recent political developments in the country will be able to see that Pakatan has itself to blame for its predicament today.
A very loose alliance, Pakatan Rakyat is made up of three parties: PKR, DAP and PAS, all with a common objective of taking over the federal administration from the BN. Because of such a common goal and motive, the three parties have come together. In reality, these three parties vary a lot in their ideologies and backgrounds, especially on the issue of religion.
Both PKR and DAP call themselves multiracial parties for the advancement of democracy and human rights. They share more similarities in terms of political ideas. However, the complexity of the membership make-up of PKR is of tremendous concern, the party-hopping of PKR reps in Perak resulting in the eventual shift in state administration back then being a classical instance.
Today, with the Selangor MB crisis now deepening into a deadlock, Khalid has openly defied party directives to step down while DAP has opted to stand alongside PKR with PAS on the other side. The current chaotic situation has once again exposed the weaknesses within PKR and Pakatan.
Even after two general elections and the subsequent trials, Pakatan remains very much a poorly organized coalition with unsteady policies and fragile intrinsic strength.
Without a question, Anwar will remain the de facto leader of the three parties making up Pakatan Rakyat despite the internal crisis within his own party. No one can doubt the fact that Anwar is a smart leader, but in the handling of the Selangor crisis, his strategies, scope and motives have been hardly convincing, from the “Kajang Plan” right up to the recent threat of holding a snap election.
Surveys show that the approval rate of Selangor state government among the residents of the state has plummeted drastically. Pakatan will have a very tough war to fight if a state election is called right away, and has good chances of surrendering the state administration.
Nevertheless, Anwar is still confident Pakatan will still get the mandate of Selangor voters, and even bigger mandate. I have no idea from where he has derived his confidence and what has made him come up with the verdict that Pakatan will emerge stronger than ever.
Pakatan is not without the experience of running state administrations, and the pact is still very much in power in Selangor, Penang and Kelantan today. We expect Pakatan to come up with even more exceptional, fair and magnanimous policies than BN in these three states in a bid to display its trusted administrative ability.
A seasoned politician, Anwar should know better than anyone else that while the voters can bring a regime to power, the same can also bring it down from the pedestal.
