A tough fix-it job for Anwar

COMMENT
By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY


Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will have a lot of explaining to do this weekend over the unceremonious departure of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and recent allegations of fraud in the PKR’s direct elections.

THE PKR’s seventh annual congress over the weekend comes at a low point in the party’s decade-long history.

PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim led the party and a loose group of opposition parties that later became Pakatan Rakyat to a sterling victory by winning five state governments and denying Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority in Parliament more than two years ago.

Today, the PKR is in a sorry state, the euphoria is all but gone and the promise of capturing Putrajaya is nothing but a slogan.

While its allies PAS and the DAP displayed a strong sense of purpose and discipline, the PKR is rocked by internal bickering, dissent and rivalries.

From a high point of being a promising party in 2008, the PKR is in despair as its promises of reform, social transformation and politics for a new age are vanishing.

The congress is therefore a watershed event for the PKR and by ex-tension for Pakatan Rakyat – with the next general election approaching fast. Anwar has to patch things up and convince the people that the party is united or abandon the Putrajaya dream.

The PKR may be the smallest of the Pakatan parties, but it is the glue that keeps the coalition together not just because of the undisputed leadership of Anwar but also because of its multi-ethnic ideology.

While the DAP represents the non-Malay and Chinese social, economic and political interest, PAS has its own goals of a Islamic theocracy.

No matter how unwise a religious theocracy is in a multi-ethnic society like Malaysia, PAS’ endeavour to create an Islamic state is never ending.

The PKR is therefore the crucial link that keeps the diametrically divergent PAS and the DAP together. Without the PKR, the Pakatan as a political coalition is a non-starter.

That’s why any distress in the PKR is seriously damaging to the Pakatan and a setback to its goals.

The resignation of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, no matter what the PKR leaders say, will have a serious negative impact on the people.

His disagreement with Anwar and his departure from the PKR is not isolated but a thorn in the flesh for the party.

One of the first to leave the PKR was founder and first deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaf-far.

At the congress, Anwar will be under a lot of pressure not only to explain the departure of prominent leaders, but also ways to stem internal conflicts and squabbles.

The congress also has to come to terms with the setbacks of the direct election which had exposed the PKR’s weaknesses.

Less than 10% of the party’s 450,000 members participated in the election and this indicated deep dissatisfaction among the grassroots and secondly, it was marred by allegations of fraud and other irregularities.

The 2,300 delegates to the congress have a choice – accept or reject the verdict of the election.

The Sept 16 fiasco, the loss of the Perak state government to the Barisan, the sodomy trial, a string of by-election losses and opinion polls consistently show the rising popularity of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak while weighing down on Anwar and the PKR.

The Barisan may be badly wounded but under Najib, who took over the helm in April 2009, the coalition appears to have got its act together.

The 2008 general election changed the political landscape of the country but the surprise is that while the Pakatan parties made that change possible, the Barisan is managing the transformation the people desire.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had warned that if the Pakatan did not buck up, it would be a one-term wonder.

It is true that the PKR is the Achilles’ heel of Pakatan Rak yat.

The congress will be a platform for the PKR to re-organise, close ranks and allow the newly elected PKR leaders to come forward and be heard.

Tina Talisa

Name: Tina Talisa Gender: Female Nationality: Indonesia Place / Date of birth: Bandung, Desember, 24 1979 Tina Talisa is a host of Indonesia. Previously, he worked as a dentist and a graduate of Faculty of Dentistry, Padjadjaran University, Bandung in 2001. She is also a former Miss Indonesia 2003 finalist, the first winner fathers of West Java, 2003, and the first winner fathers Bandung, 2002, is a career as newcaster, originated from his interest in the world while working in radio broadcasting Paramuda, and Radio Mustika.

She was smart in the singing. Is that a presenter is a beautiful place finalist from the beauty that is Puteri Indonesia 2003, the winner of Mojang in West Jawa in 2003, and I Mojang Champion in 2002 in Bandung. Tina how to finally leave the job as a dentist to become TV presenter, Interest that arose when he worked in Radio and Radio Mustika Paramuda. Then Tina is often present at the event Reportase Sore, Program in Trans TV news, and he moved to Lativi (before changes to TV One) in June 2007 and now has changed its name to TVOne.