2008/04/18

OPINION: The elephant in the Pakatan Rakyat room

By : ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR

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Rita Sim of the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research, an MCA think-tank, believes that political tension will be a constant in the newly-formed Pakatan Rakyat

Parti Islam SeMalaysia’s aim of setting up an Islamic theocracy will remain a thorny issue within Pakatan Rakyat and the crucial factor that may shorten the opposition coalition’s lifespan, writes ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR

PAKATAN Rakyat, assembled as an afterthought following the opposition's triumph in the March general election, is ambitious. The yet-to-be-formalised coalition is already thinking it is the main player in Malaysian politics.

Pakatan Rakyat's birth was encouraged after its three component parties collectively won 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats and jointly took control of the state assemblies of Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

For the first time in 40 years, the opposition had denied Barisan Nasional a two-thirds parliamentary majority. DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang aptly described the coalition's birth as "the next logical step after the March 8 political tsunami in order to bring about the changes that the people want".

"This is a response to the clear and unmistakable message from the people," he said, "that they want change, justice, freedom and fairness."
Some political analysts view the forging of a loose electoral pact among the three parties as a personal triumph for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whose negotiation skills helped bring the rival groups together on the basis of principles held in common by the three parties, such as freedom, justice and democracy.

Pakatan Rakyat's components are hardly strangers to each other. They are the same players who teamed up to form "Barisan Alternatif" to contest the 1999 general election as an electoral pact.

The loose pact did not hold. It was paralysed by internal bickering, particularly between Islamist Pas and the secular and socialist Democratic Action Party over the former's insistence to set up an Islamic state. DAP left the coalition in 2001.

Today, Pas, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP, with their dissimilar aims and ambitions and diverging policies, are offering Pakatan Rakyat as a credible alternative to BN's coalition of 14 political parties.

Their leaders have once again agreed to put aside their differences. Their struggle now is for common principles like human rights, justice, corruption-free government and democracy.

But doubts remain over Pakatan Rakyat's prospects for long-term survival, especially when there are voices expressing personal opinions contradictory to those mutually agreed at the top level.

Fearing the acrimony among its members will sink Pakatan Rakyat before it's even able to disclose its policies to the people, coalition leaders directed members to desist from expressing such views publicly.

"Pakatan Rakyat is not the forum nor the place for any group or individual to champion personal ideologies or those of its component parties," the grouping said in a statement signed by PKR leaders Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and Anwar, Lim and Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

The statement went on to emphasise Pakatan Rakyat's commitment to creating a prosperous society irrespective of ethnicity, religion and culture in upholding human rights.

By disallowing unwarranted and unsolicited comments, the group's leaders hope their members will remain steadfast in achieving a shared vision and targets.

It seems that the Islamic state and Pakatan Rakyat have become mutually exclusive; an "irreconcilable difference". To DAP and some sections of PKR, it is simply a mismatch.

It would also seem an exercise in futility to believe that DAP will eventually accept an Islamic state, as Pas' spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat hopes.

"I have no qualms admitting and predicting that if Pas and DAP insist on fighting over this issue, the Pakatan Rakyat is definitely going to be short-lived," said Pas think-tank head Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad.

While he insists that setting up an Islamic state shall remain Pas' abiding vision and political aspiration, it is not about to realise it now.

"Pas' manifesto calls for 'a fair, clean and trustworthy government towards a nation of care and opportunity'," Dzulkifli says. "We should make it categorically clear that an Islamic state is not on the agenda of Pakatan Rakyat."

Rita Sim of the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research, think-tank of MCA, said she could see continuous tension brewing not only within Pakatan Rakyat but also within Pas.

"The progressive leaders in Pas may be more flexible, but the question is whether the conservatives in the party will step in."

Sim said Pas must also accept that many people voted for the party because they wanted an Islamic state, and there were also those, including non-Muslims, who voted for them because of the promises in the party's welfare-state manifesto.

Prof Mohammed Mustaffa Ishak of Universiti Utara Malaysia does not think the Islamist and secular stands of the three component parties will blend well. Indeed, they may be untenable.

"The Islamic state issue is a fundamental issue that Pas, DAP and PKR will have a hard time resolving," he said.

"It looks like there is no way for compromise. The moment DAP succumbs to Pas, the Chinese will not forgive DAP for allowing Pas to dominate. It is not going to be easy for Pas members to embrace the leadership's decision to be silent about its ultimate goal of an Islamic state."

Opinions are forming among senior Pas leaders that DAP, if it is truly committed to Pakatan Rakyat, should not insist on Pas renouncing the Islamic state as a prerequisite to the formation of the coalition.

They said such an insistence would be as vain as asking DAP to renounce the "Malaysian Malaysia" idea -- which would be as implausible.

What Pakatan Rakyat urgently needs is the basic ground rules and guiding principles to forge the coalition, and a working mechanism to check and operationalise the relationship.

Pas insiders also say the statement by party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa -- that Pas would not pursue its Islamic state agenda through Pakatan Rakyat -- would be strongly criticised at the party's muktamar or convention in August.

Mohammed Mustaffa also observed that the Pakatan Rakyat's problems stem not just from the differences between Pas and DAP but with PKR as well, and Anwar may find difficulty facilitating a cordial relationship among coalition members.

If Pakatan Rakyat continues in disarray, its candidates may find themselves practically unelectable in the 13th general election.