Pakatan Rakyat must showcase its abilities at being a ruling party through the states it now governs.
January 15, 2010
At DAP Meet, Guan Eng to sketch out Pakatan’s Putrajaya Goal
by Leslie Lau
Consultant Editor
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is likely to use his party’s national convention this Sunday to issue a stern warning to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that it must quickly bring concrete and tangible changes to the states it governs, in order to convince voters that the DAP, PKR and PAS can be trusted to take over the federal government from Barisan Nasional (BN).
The Malaysian Insider understands from DAP sources that the party boss will use the convention as a platform to set clear goals not just for his party but for its partners in the coalition as well, ahead of general elections which many political pundits expect to be called by next year.
Lim’s address to the party faithful will be the first significant acknowledgment that the PR coalition needs to do more to convince ordinary Malaysians it is capable of taking power.
“We cannot just continue to use the excuse that we are new at ruling the states we control.We have to bring about substantive reforms,” a party source told The Malaysian Insider.
The DAP, PKR and PAS combined to deny BN its traditional two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008, before coming together to form the PR alliance.
The tripartite alliance initially controlled five states, before losing Perak to BN in a power grab last year. While BN and UMNO are still grappling with the fallout from its disappointing showing at the ballot box in 2008, PR parties have also been hit by their own squabbling.
BN, under Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has also seized some momentum away from PR. PR officials have privately acknowledged as well that the federal opposition coalition must regain the initiative.
At this weekend’s convention, Lim will put forward his argument that how PR runs the states it still controls will be crucial to whether it can win federal power. The Malaysian Insider understands that Selangor and Penang are key states in PR’s strategy of showcasing its abilities to the public. As a measure of the urgency faced by PR, Lim, who is Penang Chief Minister, has been busy travelling abroad in an effort to secure foreign investments for his state.
Selangor, which is led by Parti KeADILan Rakyat, has seen the recent appointment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as state economic advisor. Anwar’s appointment is seen as an effort to boost the state’s economic performance ahead of national polls.
Prime Minister Najib is also staking BN’s hold on power on the economy. It is understood that Najib is hoping to grow the national economy by at least six per cent and bring back a feel-good factor before he considers calling snap polls.
Another important message Lim will deliver to his members this weekend is that PR can no longer hope to be just “not 
as bad” as BN. He will tell his party that they must be an attractive choice for voters, in what is an acknowledgement that PR must stop behaving like a perpetual opposition and instead, showcase its abilities at being a ruling party through the states it now governs.
1. Potential source of foreign direct investment for Penang
and Selangor (and Kelantan and Kedah):
The million-plus Overseas Malaysians and ex-Malaysians
2. Not only financial capital but also the human capital (technical expertise) of these million-plus people
3. And the political support and funds contributed by these people to promote real progressive change in Malaysia
Phua Kai Lit - January 15, 2010 at 8:03 am
An interesting piece of reading from one interesting blog:
http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/5481/#more-5481
Phua Kai Lit - January 15, 2010 at 8:16 am
Dr. Phua, good minds like you and others must come back to help Selangor and Penang. I am doing my bit in Kedah and Penang. We need honest technocrats and professionals who want to bring change to Malaysia.—Din Merican
dinobeano - January 15, 2010 at 8:21 am
” PR must stop behaving like a perpetual opposition and instead, showcase its abilities at being a ruling party through the states it now governs.”
That is one of the strong messages your supporters have been trying to put across !
” Potential source of foreign direct investment for Penang
and Selangor (and Kelantan and Kedah):
The million-plus Overseas Malaysians and ex-Malaysians ”
– Phua Kai Lit – January 15, 2010 at 8:03 am
As long as there are no strings attached !
I hear from friends in Penang that DAP has cop on, that corporate invitations had been sent out to ” sell tables” at their dinners to procure donations for their new DAP headquarters !?!
-
ocho-onda - January 15, 2010 at 8:27 am
“Pakatan Rakyat must showcase its abilities at being a ruling party …”
Are we surprised???
I and many others (including the inscrutable Mr.Bean ) who have criticised Anwar and PR in no uncertain terms, have been saying that for many many months (not only on Din’s blog).
Lim Guan Eng, Anwar and the PR leaders… stop talking, just DO IT.
More Leg Walk, Less Paper Talk.
Frank - January 15, 2010 at 8:31 am
Dear Encik Din
I’ve been back in Malaysia since mid-1990s. Was overseas (mainly in USA, where the “scales fell off my eyes” so to speak) for nearly 20 years. I have yet to join PKR, DAP, kelab penyokong PAS and Parti Sosialis Malaysia though. But I am seriously considering joining all four!
________
Dr. Phua, you are free to choose or be a composite.—Din Merican
Phua Kai Lit - January 15, 2010 at 8:36 am
“I have yet to join PKR, DAP, kelab penyokong PAS
and Parti Sosialis Malaysia though. But I am seriously considering joining all four!- ” Phua Kai Lit
Phua,
Join Parti Sosialis Malaysia only… so as to give Malaysians a Third Force(a third choice) and give PR and BN a run of their money. PSM might win 3 states in time to come
Frank - January 15, 2010 at 8:56 am
Dear Frank
Join PSM only? I don’t agree with their Marxism (although as a social democrat, I am a little sympathetic to it
)
Anyway, in my humble opinion, to save Malaysia from becoming another Zimbabwe, Philippines or more likely another Nigeria,
the most important and pressing thing is to push for regime change through peaceful means — this requires UNITY of all the anti-BN forces. After regime change has been achieved, then we (PAS, DAP, PKR, PSM, SAPP etc) can sort out our differences through the democratic process.
Phua Kai Lit - January 15, 2010 at 9:39 am
“Join PSM only? I don’t agree with their Marxism ” -Phua Kai Lit
That’s stererotyping in the tradition of the UMNO-goons. They are not Marxists, they are egalitarians.
They champion the poor, the marginalised and the proletariat ( ie our poor kampung folks and those living hand to mouth just outside those obscene palatial houses of the rich and greedy folks in Petaling Jaya and the surrounding Klang Valley.) Compare that to DAP, PKR, MCA, MIC and UMNO.
Otherwise, join PAS. They are not Marxist.
Frank - January 15, 2010 at 9:47 am
Phua
That chap, the President of the Kelantan Pas Supporters Club, the strongest, is a Hainanese Chinese. He sided with PAS although the former PM Badawi’s ancestry is Hainanese, because Badawi did not champion the poor, the marginalised, the disadvantaged and the proletariat.
Islam is for the proletariat, not for the greedy corrupt, cronyistic pariah UMNO Malays (PKR is just another softer version of UMNO)
Frank - January 15, 2010 at 9:53 am
Pakatan’s road to Putrajaya is a minefield. By the time Pakatan reaches Putrajaya it will be in tatters. It would not be able to form a viable government.
Mr Bean - January 15, 2010 at 9:57 am
” … UNITY of all the anti-BN forces. After regime change has been achieved, then we (PAS, DAP, PKR, PSM, SAPP etc) can sort out our differences through the democratic process.”
Are you kiddin’?? Electoral unity is not real unity and is only temporary. The ideological differences between Pas and DAP alone is sufficient to ensure that each will be at each other’s throats. Pas leaders will have their hands on DAP’s jugular and will never let go. All UMNO has to do is to stand back and watch and let time do its work.
Mr Bean - January 15, 2010 at 10:03 am
Dear Frank and Mr Bean
Thanks for your comments.
1. Frank’s comment on PSM as “not Marxists, they are egalitarians”
My reply: Note that I said earlier that although I am not a Marxist, I am a social democrat who is sympathetic to Marxism (more accurately, has some lingering sympathy for Marxism). The leaders of PSM are Marxists although their proletarian followers are not necessarily so. My main disagreement with Marxism is its failure to come up with workable economic policies, although its critical analysis of capitalism is valid. The Yugoslav model looked promising for a while but that collapsed with the death of Tito.
(A more viable alternative? —> the Spanish anarchist-inspired Mondragon cooperatives of??)
2. Mr Bean’s comment “are you kiddin’”
My reply: Quoting Antonio Gramsci — “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”. Gramsci, incidentally, was an Italian Marxist intellectual
who died in prison under Benito Mussolini, an ex-Marxist who invented fascism 
Phua Kai Lit - January 15, 2010 at 10:32 am
I just don’t see it happening, Phua. You cannot give sight to an owl. God created the animals in his first six days and let Adam named them.
Mr Bean - January 16, 2010 at 1:32 am
It is not pessimism as much as accepting the reality. The reality as the Malays see it is that they could rule without the support of the non-Malays. If perception helps why discard it.
Mr Bean - January 16, 2010 at 1:39 am
“God created the animals in his first six days…” – Mr Bean
And then He took the weekend off. God worked for ONLY 6 days and then He rested. Job done. We mortals work our butt off till we retire.
No wonder His Creation is still in a mess. God should have used the 7th day to put in the final touches instead off going off to take a siesta.
If God is the Supreme Being of the Universe,why did He used the rotation of our already formed planet as a basis for His DAY as His schedule to do His Work?
It only confirms my view that it was MAN who made God in his mortal image.
He could have used the rotation of the earth around the sun as HIS DAY? Why not?
God does not sleep… otherwise He cannot be with each and every Muslim, Christian and Jew all the time and listen to their complaints and prayers, including shouts of Allahuakhbar on the streets of Kuala Lumpur and during suicide bombings and when Israeli (Allah’s Chosen People) shoot at innocent Palestinian children and civilians
I still don’t understand why those religionists still cannot see this or prove their version of “truth” that it was the other way round.
How am I going to tell my children and grandchildren this story that God made Man in HIS image when all the arguments point otherwise?? Help this religiously uneducated brain of mine.
Frank - January 16, 2010 at 9:50 am
This one is for Frank. The message is in the song, we are who we are – nothing else matters !
ocho-onda - January 16, 2010 at 11:04 am
Nothing else matters
So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don’t just say
and nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know
So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
but I know
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don’t just say
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us, something new
Open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters
never cared for what they say
never cared for games they play
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
and I know
So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
No, nothing else matters
ocho-onda - January 16, 2010 at 11:11 am
Frank,
I don’t think it’d be necessary to have another third force. Malaysia present government has problem dealing one capable alternative government.
Well, for decades, PSM has been in existence but it becomes stagnant. Something gone wrong somewhere.
However Frank, it does not stop you from joining PSM, go ahead. Me still stick with DAP. That’s democratic socialism. I always remember Deng Xiao Peng’s motto…….Regardless the cat is black or white, the cat that catches mice is a good cat.
Unfortunately, PSM stays stagnant. Even Socialists in Germany & France has changed……They are quite similar
3 can be a crowd you know
looes74 - January 16, 2010 at 2:33 pm
looes74,
There is a saying in Australia, that the third force was necessaryto “keep the bastards honest”.
Only two, they can make deals, like the stupid Unity Govt betweem UMNO and PAS.
Who knows, DAP might make deals with MCA to form a Chinese unity opposition party and make race issues become worse.
Frank - January 16, 2010 at 5:42 pm
“There is a saying in Australia, that the third force was necessaryto “keep the bastards honest”.
– Frank – January 16, 2010 at 5:42 pm
In politics, that is a very tall order itself. Honesty is the buzz word here. Gone are the men and leaders of calibre of Tunku’s generation !
ocho-onda - January 16, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Frank,
In the West especially in UK, there are third forces. In fact, there are multitude of forces. But to what end, Frank. We found UK MPs from all sides having scandals on parliamentary claim expneses.
Frank,
We, the people are the third force. Heck, we suppose to be masters to decide which political parties to choose. Nevertheless, I am not saying that all “fringed” political parties. However, they must be proven their mettle
I am pretty doubtful of a political parties after being established for decades not making progress politically. Using your logic, what makes you thik PSM after ruling certain states turned into Maoist states. Heard of cultural revolution wreck the whole China. Even Great Deng has critical critique on that era.
Frank,
Just like Tunku Aziz, I have seen how DAP grow….Hehehe….I am not as old as Tunku Aziz, me in the 30s lah. I have seen DAP can reinvent itself time & time again to meet the change of time while keeping principle intact.
Its predecessor across the causeway is a showcase of success. Extremely kiasu to the point that they made very brutal honest assessment themselves when PAP lost big in the 90s
Have we seen these happenings in PSM or PRM? How can we trust the political parties to adapt through time? Being nimble while focussing in serving the public.
Frank,
You should set up a political party.
looes74 - January 17, 2010 at 9:59 pm