i am out 42

MT] Parti Keadilan Rakyat: Is it coming or going?
Malaysia Today 09 September 2005
Parti Keadilan Rakyat: is it coming or going?

Raja Petra Kamarudin

'Parti Keadilan Rakyat keeping a low profile', said the header of Shahanaaz Habib's piece in The Star last Sunday.
According to the party's Youth Chief, Ezam Mohd Nor, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has been deliberately keeping a low profile as it is currently weak and is not up to the mark yet. Ezam added that its six- year struggle has taken its toll on the party and a number of people have given up due to financial and other constraints.
'Many of our people are apolitical. They are simple people who just wanted Anwar out of prison.'
'Now that he is free, they feel they have fulfilled their responsibility and they want to be on the sidelines. So, our capacity has been reduced.'
Ezam was quoted as saying that although support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was still evident by the strong turnout at gatherings, the party itself is weak.
'We are not up to the mark to be the ruling government. Gauging our strength right now, we cannot carry the election.'
'For the 2008 general election, we are going for the win. The party machinery must really be capable. We want a competent machinery that will be on par with Anwar's standing.'
Ezam also revealed that since Anwar's release, PKR has been having informal chit-chat sessions with some Umno division leaders and Youth Exco members.
'Anwar still has many friends in Umno. So there have been many phone calls and friendship meetings. There's a lot of interest now that he is out. But these are not serious discussions, such as a roadmap for him to rejoin Umno,' said Ezam.
He also said there was no urgency for Anwar's wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to give up the PKR presidency yet.
'She will serve as president until 2007. She's become quite a politician now compared to seven years ago when she first started.'
This is probably the most candid statement yet ever to come from a PKR leader, a leader viewed as not only very close to Anwar but also within his inner circle. Ezam, just like Azmin Ali, is considered the right-hand man of Anwar. The fact that they served Anwar in the Finance Ministry and Prime Minister's Department means their association with Anwar goes way back to the days when he walked through the corridors of power.
What Ezam said, however, is not news. If at all, what he said was merely to reiterate what many have been saying all this while. Somehow though, those in the party's decision-making circle chose to go into self-denial mode rather than address the issue head on. The mind boggles as to why the 'simple people', as Ezam put it, those who are 'apolitical' (again to quote Ezam), could see this while the seasoned and more experienced politicians at the top echelon of the party with decades of experience under their belt could not.
Let us take one example quoted by Ezam: the party's weak election machinery. And let us look at one example where there was a total lack of such machinery: Putrajaya.
The then party Deputy President, Haji Abdul Rahman Othman, now its Treasurer, contested the Putrajaya Parliament seat in the last general election. Putrajaya is the seat of the government and therefore a most significant constituency from the image and morale point of view.
Even though Rahman was the number two man in the party, and Putrajaya the nation's capital, the party put very little effort into winning this seat. Rahman was left entirely to his own devices, to manage single-handedly the best he could. And the result was disastrous. In fact, not only did Rahman lose the election, he even lost his deposit, something absolutely shameful for someone of the stature of the number two in the party.
But can we blame Rahman for the massacre he suffered? PKR did not own a single branch in Putrajaya, let alone a division. All it had was about half a dozen or so supporters who were not even card bearing members.
Come Nomination Day, Rahman had to draw upon PAS to help put up the flags, banners and posters. At first, the PAS members, who were mostly Putrajaya members mind you -- so PAS was therefore well- established in Putrajaya and could probably have done better than PKR -- did not want to help. And could you blame them? They had been slowly building up their base in Putrajaya over the years and at the eleventh hour, after all that hard work, they had to make way for a PKR candidate.
Anyway, they agreed to bury their disappointment and work with PKR. The fact that he was the party's number two meant they were prepared to 'give face' to Rahman. If it had been Raja Petra who was going to contest the seat they would probably have told me to go screw myself.
Almost the entire Putrajaya election machinery comprised of PAS members; with a handful of PKR workers 'imported' from all over the place who came and went, and went more than came if some hard Ringgit were not placed into their hands.
Umno, however, had a mammoth election machinery complete with a string of brand new four-wheel drives; and every time the PAS boys left camp to put up the flags and posters, the Umno paramilitary force would surround it and would not let it move. So what we saw was a sea of Umno flags and posters and a spattering of PKR colours.
Then the Umno boys stuck their flags on the flagpoles of the PKR flags and their posters over the PKR posters, clearly in breach of the election rules. And when they went on their mischievous rounds they were given police protection while ASP Ibrahim, the Special Branch Chief for Putrajaya, would constantly harass the opposition workers.
I too received a phone call from ASP Ibrahim who complained that we were illegally using Bangladeshi workers, which is in breach of the election rules, and unless we stopped action would be taken against us. When I went to investigate the incident at the location ASP Ibrahim mentioned, I found that the Bangladeshis were in fact putting up Umno and Barisan Nasional flags and posters. I further discovered that our flags and posters had mysteriously disappeared and in their place were the ruling party ones.
I then lodged a police report and also complained to the election commission but no action was taken for many days. Finally, I took matters into my own hands. I went round Putrajaya and cut down all the Umno flags tied to our flagpoles. In a flash, two carloads of Umno paramilitary chaps escorted by a police car arrived on the scene. They charged at me, clearly with intent to beat me up, but when they saw the Bowie knife in my hand they backed off and instead asked the police to arrest me. I responded by shouting 'fuck you!' and drove off, much to the chagrin of the Umno paramilitary chaps who were scolding the startled police for not handcuffing me.
I tried calling in reinforcements from other PKR divisions so that we could go head-to-head with the Umno paramilitary, but all and sundry I contacted said they were facing exactly the same crisis in their own constituencies and that they too were grossly underpowered. Night after night, SOS messages via SMS were sent out, but no one came to the aid of the PKR-PAS workers in Putrajaya.
The Umno paramilitary force became so bold they even punched Rahman's son in the face in broad daylight as he was distributing leaflets. And they would vandalise PKR posters and flags in front of us and all we could do is watch and bite our lips. They also kidnapped Rahman's seconder to try to get him to leave PKR and join Umno in an attempt to get Rahman disqualified as a candidate and of course the police did nothing even though a report had been made.
Putrajaya was a hopeless case. We had lost the election even before Nomination Day. We had no workers and those few who came from all over the place to lend a hand eventually gave up when they realised that PKR just did not have what it takes to win the election.
Winning elections requires more than just ideals. It needs money and manpower as well. And PKR does not have both. The way things are now, it would be better if PKR just boycotts the election and let Barisan Nasional win uncontested. After all, the voters do not want to help build up a strong opposition. They just want the present ruling government that can guarantee them money in the pocket. Since BN is seen to be the only party that can guarantee them this, and since this is what the voters want, then let them have their BN and let Malaysia be reduced to a one-party system.
Ezam can talk till the cows come home about building up a potent election machinery that can give BN a run for its money in 2008. If this could be done, it would have happened in 1999. If it could not be done in 1999, then it certainly will not happen in 2008.
Malaysian voters want their cake and they want to eat it too. They want BN to remain in power and they want a strong opposition to keep BN in check to ensure that absolute power does not corrupt absolutely. But they want all this as long as they do not need to work or pay for it.

The question then would be: whom the hell do they expect should work and pay for it?

I had seen the worsening situation in PKR. Somehow the experienced hands didnt stop the rot. Maybe because there is no money to be made. It is still money made the decision. Look at this way - businesses make money; services require money to be paid; nothing is given free or something to have in future - hedging -The objective had met - the release of Anwar Ibrahim- yet the party should focus what they have - Anwar Ibrahim again. He is the leader who could make waves at home and abroad. So work on this. If you think about it, politics is money. Period.