PR State Government Sharing the Fruits of Labour

During the 308 general election, PAS, PKR and DAP grouped together to face the general election. This was to ensure that during the general election, in both state and federal level, it would be a one PR against one BN candidate. This strategy was effective and explained the enormous success achieved by PR. It was the charisma and the leadership of Anwar that was able to hold these 3 parties to work together. PR won big, both at the state and federal level, but the acid test is how to administer the states under PR. In politics, the real acid test is not just facing the election, but how after victory; they can sit down and cooperate in the sharing of power, what we call the fruits of their labour. The world is full of examples of countries thrown into turmoil where coalition partners cannot agree how to share their newly acquired power.

In the recent forum where I was invited as the panel speaker, I said that if PR comes to power at the federal government, PAS leaders would claim that they should be the Prime Minister. This is logical considering that it has resources, membership and an organization that are far more superior to that of DAP or PKR. In the general election, PAS will contest more seats. If they win more seats at the federal level, then it is only logical that they want to claim the Prime Ministership. Nik Aziz, the MB of Kelantan is the most senior and the most respected within the party. If we think out of the box, Nik Aziz can always claim the Prime Ministership.

Malaysiakini wrote that during the forum, a Chinese audience stood up and said that he supported Nik Aziz. This was the same man who criticized me for not fulfilling some of the promises I made as the Health Minister. This was enough to stir the audience who reacted immediately by yelling at him not to raise personal issues in the Question and Answer session during the forum. I found out later that this gentleman is one of the most active members of the PAS’ Supporters club and his job is to attend all forums so that during the Q and A session, he can promote PAS. I raise this to show how PAS is committed in its propaganda war compared to all other parties. No wonder PAS never stop doing ceramah since the general election. You can see PAS leaders crisscrossing the whole country doing ceramah all the time. I wonder how they find the time to do administrative work if they happen to be EXCO members or for that matter MP.

Kedah DAP decided to be politically correct by threatening to quit the coalition. I must congratulate the Kedah DAP state chairman that politically, he has nothing to lose and more to gain by quitting. After all, DAP has no EXCO in the Kedah government and staging this political drama will boost up DAP’s image in Kedah without at the same time causing the fall of the state government since they only have one DAP ADUN. The PAS Kedah MB had stuck to his gun on the 50% quota for bumiputras in housing development. Tearing down the pig abattoir became the proverbial last straw that broke the DAP’s back. To survive politically, DAP needs to quit, at least for a short while. Nothing to lose, more to gain, politically. Congratulations to the leadership of Kedah DAP.

Coming to Penang, I fail to understand why Guan Eng or any of the senior Penang leaders refused to meet with the residents of Kampung Buah Pala village. This will only give them more ammunition to condemn Penang state government. Not meeting them and not doing anything in a case like this will not do. It will be a great PR disaster to the state government. Blaming the previous state administration will not resolve the issue.