Is hard to come by, I know. And I also know it’s really distressing when it seems like the three main parties can’t get their act together.
KeADILan in particular seems to be getting hit from all sides – supremos of both other parties have had very critical things to say about us lately. I’m glad our equivalents of LKS and TGNA have not resorted to such attacks.
Nonetheless, I think it is also unwise to be taken in by sensationalist media reports. Instead, I counsel patience.
If all the Opposition parties agreed on everything, they’d be one party, not three. I for one personally wish this was often the case, but wishing is.. unproductive at this juncture.
So as long as the parties remain separate, this bickering is always possible. I don’t like it any more than you do, and if ever I’m up there, I will do my best to structure things such that there are much less conflicting interests than there are now.
In the meantime, as I said, patience.
To provide some context, one of the thorny issues are the non-Malay majority seats. Obviously all hot stuff right now, these are not easy to let go. I think some quarters would still prefer that KeADILan only contest in heavily mixed, but still Malay-majority seats.
We’re happy to contest those, but I think it goes against the multi-ethnic spirit of the party to just let Pas and DAP contest the Malay and Chinese majority seats while we take what’s left.
I would personally be eminently disappointed if we take over government only to be the new racially divided Umno/MCA/Gerakan or what not – that’s just silly, and goes against everything I believe in.
We’re the only party in Malaysia whose ethnic make-up even remotely mirrors that of Malaysia, and we should act like it.
So yes, I do believe that for ideology, and in recognition of our hard-working non-Malay members, KeADILan should include every type of seat along the ethnic spectrum in its to-contest list.
All that said, I do value unity. I am also extremely optimistic that after these somewhat venomous volleys, reason will prevail, and just like in Penang, an accomodation will be reached that will benefit all of Malaysia.
Let’s be patient in the meantime, be not hasty to judge, and let’s see what comes out. Those of us on the inside are doing our very best to reach a fair, equitable solution.
ps- more on this in the upcoming second part of my Why Opposition essay.
Hi Nat,
The oppositions front should have been united at least 6 months before GE.
DAP/PAS/PKR has no idea how to win the heart of M’sians – should be playing up BN weakness and focusing on Oppositions’ strengthens instead of harping on seats allocation :-(
Just do case study on the old Ross Perot campaign and learn how the underdog fights!
Nat..
I just wish that keadilan will show some respect for DAP. DAP has been around for very very long..they have a good reputation already. Why would Keadilan want to contest in their strongholds? Keadilan so far has only one Member of Parliament. At least give some respect to DAP, don’t contest in areas where they have staked their claim. When Keadilan said it wants to contest in Ipoh Timur, I think it is going too far, don’t you think? Its like trying to snatch your boss’s job. You have a point on the multiracial party thing, but DAP has the experience and credentials to fight this election. Hope you will speak up on this.
I fully agree with you Nat. The fact that the 3 major opposition parties differ and refuse to give and take make them far inferior with Barisan. This is one of the reason why they continue to fail in their attempt in the past elections.
I hope, sincerely hope leaders of all levels from opposition would understand the current political scenario thus put their mind and heart to stand united fighting for the common cause.
Barisan can only be defeated with unity, understanding and compromise between opposition parties. For this top guns like Anwar, LIm and Hadi must work real hard.
I HOPE THEY DO!
[...] after writing the above, I remember Nat’s very reasonable call for Malaysians to be patient with the child the government’s opposition is. You see, I am hardly as romantic a person as [...]
The first step is to build up a credible opposition.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. So why can’t PKR, PAS and DAP have a friendly co-existence and focus on getting results instead of one upmanship ?
Talk is cheap. The Opposition had been talking for the past few months on toppling the BN government.. Now, you are asking for patience. There is no time to waste. Are you expecting the people to wait for another 50 years before you Opposition leaders get it through your thick heads that now is the best time to topple the BN government?
WE can talk again for another 50years, and if no action is taken all of you will still be talking. As I said talk is cheap. Action is the requirement,you need to get off your butts and start cracking the whip. There is no better time than now. The BN leaders are doing their best to shoot themselves in their feet.
For the past few general elections, my vote was not wasted, even when the EC changed my Seputeh constituency to Bukit Bintang. My candidates always won and I hope my next vote will still go to the winning candidate.
tan: i know how you feel, and i can assure you that respect for the parties run very high. it’s a lot to ask now, but i have faith that perak will reach a settlement and that there will be no 3 corner fights.
richy: i agree. i’m not in a position to speak with the rest, but if you want to see how hard dsai is working, look at his schedule. it’s barely human.
oldmantalks: thank you for your vote, it means a lot. also:
Talk is cheap. The rakyat have been talking for the past few months on toppling the BN government.. Now, you are asking for excellence. There is no time to waste. Are you expecting the Opposition to do everything by themselves?
WE can talk again for another 50years, and if no action is taken all of you will still be talking. As I said talk is cheap. Action is the requirement,you need to get off your butts and start being part of the process. There is no better time than now. The BN leaders are doing their best to shoot themselves in their feet.
You can join a party to bring about the change you wish to see, or you can even do things as simple as passing around some bettermalaysia.com leaflets. Plenty all of us can do!