PKR comes of age
May 31, 2010
www.freemalaysiatoday.com
PKR comes of age
By Hawkeye
KOTA BARU: As befits a party that is a partner in four state administrations, PKR used its congress this 
weekend more as an occasion to evaluate its performance than an opportunity to indulge in its traditional preoccupation of UMNO-bashing.
This was evident in both the issues raised in the speeches in the assembly hall and the comments made in media interviews on the sidelines.
Nearly all of the 40-odd speakers at the party’s sixth national congress here showed concern over such issues as the effectiveness of policies and their implementation and the quality of leadership that PKR had to offer.
The spotlight shone mostly on Selangor, the only Pakatan-ruled state where PKR is the leading partner.Vice-president Azmin Ali, in a highly charged speech that wound up the presidential keynote address, emphasised on improving the management of Selangor, which has lately been a target of much criticism resulting from revelations of alleged corruption in sand mining.
Azmin called for consistency and an unwavering attitude in the PKR struggle against corruption and power abuse.
He also said that the party must not let itself be too overwhelmed and distracted by defections and other obstacles its enemies were trying to place on its path. The road to Putrajaya, he added, must run through each of the four Pakatan states. “People want to see a proven track record before they commit themselves fully to supporting the alliance,” he said.
Secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, presenting his latest report, said PKR had recorded some 500,000 members to date. However, he devoted most of his speech to exhorting members to ensure that the party focused on good governance and on synergy between itself and the other two Pakatan parties — PAS and DAP.
Almost all of the 20-member supreme council, including former MCA leader Chua Jui Meng, addressed the controversy surrounding the leadership of Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and many defended him.
Khalid explained at the podium that fighting corruption was the forte of his state administration. However, he chose not to dwell on issues specific to Selangor, devoting most of his speech to the need to groom the young to take over from the present generation of leaders.
Growing-up pains
V Arumugam, deputy chairman of Kedah PKR, spoke to reporters about the party’s growing-up pains, saying it was time to get over it.He said PKR must concentrate its efforts on playing an effective role as part of the parliamentary opposition while paying equal attention to governing Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan.
He also called for better coordination among all members of PKR, PAS and DAP. Even the upcoming party elections in December took a back seat as delegates pleaded for PKR leaders to give due attention to issues of governance and to listen more attentively to voices from the grassroots.
Party adviser Anwar Ibrahim, winding up the proceedings, urged the party to remain resolute and promised that he would give his “undivided attention” to Selangor.
Anwar, who is officially the economic adviser to the Selangor government, said the state must cut bureaucratic red tape in the interest of speeding up growth.”It is tough, 50 years under Barisan Nasional and only two years under PKR. But we must strive to improve ourselves in Selangor.”
PKR comes of age?!! In terms of political maturity, PKR is still very much a toddler learning how to walk.
Mr Bean - May 31, 2010 at 10:02 pm
50 years of BN against just over two of PR. That may be a fair point but it should not be an excuse for inaction. In one of today’s papers a senior member of PKR is quoted as saying that the party was ready to assume power at the centre. This kind of premature optimism will almost certainly mean a crash landing. PR should run the states under their control just like Malaysians want and the electorate will do the rest.
Isa Manteqi - May 31, 2010 at 11:22 pm
pkr build expectation and then crush it!
noniivan - June 1, 2010 at 1:21 am
What do you expect, when their members and supporters are bunch of people who like to seeks for instant gratification and recognition…….
knk - June 1, 2010 at 4:56 am
Here is the problem.
In wanting to expose UMNO-Barisan for what it really is i.e. a coalition that has long ceased to function as a coalition, one that has lost its grass roots appeal, lost its directions, corrupt etc PKR-Pakatan raised the bars for itself. And now it finds it difficult to clear its own hurdles.
No government can claim to be entirely free of corruption and abuse of power. But what sets one apart from the other is that when incidences of corruption and corrupt practices emerge to derail their administration, there is no cover up but those alleged to be corrupt are held to account and the process through which it is done remains transparent.
It is almost cliche to say every time but justice must be seen to be done. It is always never enough that justice is done.
Mr Bean - June 1, 2010 at 5:45 am
There are too many dissatisfied exUMNO members in PKR.They have been sidelined by UMNO and use PKR to further their own agenda. These people are not serious nor have the tenacity to ride out the rough times. They also do not believe completely in the PKR struggle. All these three elements caused PKR to lose sights of its goals.
PKR has also lost the element of surprise. Too many statements made alerting BN on PKR’s next move. This has allowed BN to take evasive actions or to preempt PKR’s move.
semper fi - June 1, 2010 at 6:07 am
they are all the same people……….who can trust them .Anwar himself used to be one of them.what makes us think they have all changed? they have no idea what governance is about ,transparency,accountability. they have a set mind and a mind set that is UMNO.
they think since its our land we have to have special priveleges. what an insult. laziness that has cost us all dearly. a bunch of A#$h%* as far as I am concerned. if you put greed first what else is left?
systemic parasitical behaviour…..
siti khatijah - June 1, 2010 at 6:41 am
Mr. Hawkeye has become a PKR propagandist, unable to see the flaws and hypocrisy of Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership. PKR is heading no where. It is the weakest link in Pakatan Rakyat.
PKR has yet to get of its protest mode, which has been and will continue to be its forte. The lessons of the Red shirts in Thailand will be lost on PKR. As Dr. Bean says,”PKR is still very much a toddler learning how to walk”. It is too impatient to learn to walk; it was to run–sprint is a better word–to Putrajaya because Anwar is advancing in years and desperately wants to be Prime Minister.
The true character of the de facto leader is at issue here. He is certainly not an idealist in the cause of freedom, democracy and justice; it is more likely at heart he is a frustrated UMNO hand and the methods he uses to win popular support smacks of Mahathirism.
Mahathir was his sifu. After all, Anwar was handpicked by the former authoritarian leader. In fact, he learned high stakes politics from Mahathir. We often forget that he had cronies of his own when he was Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO’s Deputy President. Can we trust such a man? I am not sure. Catch-22?
What we see in Selangor where he is the so-called Economic Advisor will likely be the model of his future administration in Putrajaya. He is unable to go beyond rhetoric at this stage, and many of the young people are seeking new outlets for political activism because they are disillusioned with Anwar and question his character and leadership. What happened to the Anwar Ibrahim Club?
Najib will pin Anwar down politically because the Prime Minister, unlike Badawi, is serious, savvy, and very focused. Given a full mandate, he will be make Malaysia great again. Once he gets the mandate from the people, he will move in earnest to remake UMNO. Right now, he has to move strategically. He will not upset the apple card since that would undermine his position as UMNO president.
His priorities are clear. It is the Economy first and his plan for the ensuing years will be reflected in the 10th Malaysia Plan. It could be as ground breaking as the 2nd Malaysia Plan (1970-1975) of his illustrious late father, Tun Abdul Razak. NEM adapted to new realities and challenges will be his agenda for remaking of the Malaysian economy. With the NEM, Najib will be able to strengthen his approval rating beyond 60 per cent. It will tough for PR to unseat him in the 13th GE.
Abul-bul - June 1, 2010 at 7:31 am
Dear Abul-bul
The present PM is running our economy into the ground!
Millions of ringgit thrown around at every bye-election without any
economic logic and thus contributing to the deficit.
Our worst PM ever and you continue to praise him?
A high official from his own administration is saying that the
country is in danger of going bankrupt by 2019.
Ironic isn’t it, 2019 = one year before “Vision 2020″.
Phua Kai Lit - June 1, 2010 at 8:03 am
Sorry, I do not mean “bye-election”. I mean “buy-election”.
Phua Kai Lit - June 1, 2010 at 8:05 am
Suffice to say. PKR is a carbon copy of UMNO. A copy-cat.
I will take the genuine brand anytime, rather than the fake one.
Sayang bangsa - June 1, 2010 at 8:50 am
Dr. Phua,
It is true that if we let the economy cruise on auto-pilot. This is not likely to happen under Najib. In our criticisms of the UMNO-BN government, we tend, I afraid, to forget that the Prime Minister is advised by professionals in EPU and Bank Negara, the IMF and the World Bank, and the think tanks like ISIS Malaysia and MIER. He is not likely to ignore advice on economic, fiscal and monetary policies. He will act as it is folly to ignore sound advice.
In my opinion, we need to :1) Diversify our tax revenue sources and reduce over dependence on Petronas to fund our national budget; 2) Curtail government spending so that the budget deficit will not crowd out; the borrowing needs of the private; and 3) ensure that inflation is held in check, that is, it must be in tune with what Government does on the fiscal side. Here is where Bank Negara, where I was once Secretary of the Bank, will play a key role. Monetary policy must work in tandem with fiscal policy.
Public sector borrowing from EPF and the financial institutions must scrupulously managed. Fiscal management must be prudent from here on.
I think, our policy wonks know what to and the political leadership under Najib will have to respond to their advice. Minister Idris Jala just raised alarm bells and his concern about the national budget must be addressed.–Din Merican
dinobeano - June 1, 2010 at 8:59 am
Din
Idris Jala is talking through his hat! It is astonishing that a Minister is an alarmist when it comes o the issue of subsidies.
Lets relook at the issues. The initial subsidies were given for basic amenities like food and fuel/energy, including rice , sugar, diesel etc. These early subsidies were economic support for the poorer and rural population, including the fishermen. Part of the food subsidy program was to support prices of basic foodstuff like rice. But now rice subsidy goes to Bernas in the name of privatisation!
The issues became really murky when subsidies were extended to crony corporations in the name of legal contracts when the Govt under TDM went wholesale into privatisation. Apart from Bernas above, a prime example is the toll subsidies to the toll concessioners. Another prime example is the energy subsidy to the IPPs! If the govt can privatise, it can also nationalise where the security of the nation is involve. And i believe both the IPPs and the tolls reppresent a security issue.
Idris Jala’s arguments are totally misleading becasue he has not taken into account the most obvious strength of the Malaysian economy,that is, the high savings rate of more than 35% as reflected in the swelling coffers of the EPF, the Govt Pension Fund (KWAP) and SOCSO. second his arguments have not computed tha savings if the subsidies to the privatised areas are reviewed! Third, the savings that the Govt can make if it tackles corruption can go a long way to reducing the budget deficits. This has been argued so clearly by many of our own most eminent economists. corruption is clearly reflected in the negotiated tenders and all the contracts given to UMNOputras where costs are so inflated! Please read the Auditor Generals’ Report whcih is tendered to Parlimentr every year.
Given the above, both Idris Jala and Koh Ksu Koon are redundant and should be dismissed from their posts.
si rusa - June 1, 2010 at 11:34 am
Dear Encik Din
I truly, truly hope I will be proven wrong.
But I have very little confidence that the present PM will
place the economic well-being of the nation above
his desperate efforts to prevent loss of political power (both BN at the federal level and his own as UMNO President and Malaysian PM).
Check out YB Tony Pua’s blog on his worries for our economic future.
Some observers have warned that we are in danger of becoming
like Zimbabwe. I think a better analogy is contemporary Nigeria.
Phua Kai Lit - June 1, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Here’s an interesting report.
Note that Malaysia is high on its list:
http://www.gfip.org/storage/gfip/documents/executive – final version 05-14-09.pdf
Phua Kai Lit - June 1, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Tend to agree with you wrt to “Nigeria-ization”, Dr. Phua.
Same tribal-politico-socio-economic-religiocentric scenario unravelling here. 1st. order of ‘business’ should be then..?
Menyalak-Er - June 1, 2010 at 2:11 pm
PR had better get it into their heads that even if they are elected to form the next government it will be bacause of voter frustration with BN and not any outstanding performance by PR since 2008. Two years may be a relatively short time but more than ample to show one’s true colours. Sad to say, PR as a team have been a disappointment.
They should now put their heads down and show voters how they govern the States still under their control. Making grandiose claims and promises will not do. The country wants to see performance.
I wish one could be less pessimistic, but Anwar Ibrahim may be a charismatic politician but has so far been a lousy leader. My guess is that it will take not less than five years for a credible opposition to emerge in our country.
Isa Manteqi - June 1, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Just coming back from SME showcase. It’s hopeless, not many people there. Business community is going down, not like it used to be when Rafidah was the minister there.
oohay - June 1, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Ha ha ha,
Everything said against jibbo is now defended and protected by Din. If the Prime Minister listened to the advises by professionals in EPU, Bank Negara, IMF, World Bank and the think tank of ISIS Malaysia and MIER, as Din says,Kutty and Bodowi would not have done what they did to to our economy. They would have saved it for future generations instead of enriching their children and cronies and friends. Being PM, Kutty, Bodowi and jibbo only have eyes to the RM.
_______
samsaimon, as the saying goes, advice given is not necessarily taken. I am defending any politician, but I have some respect for the professionals at EPU, Bank Negara, NEAC and the think tanks. I know a number of them well.–Din Merican
samsaimon - June 1, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Din
You are right. Some of the professionals at EPU, Bank Negara are really good at their job.
Samsaimon, sometimes you must give the politicians like Najib some credit though they may not be your politico of choice.
Sayang bangsa - June 1, 2010 at 9:52 pm