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| PAS Youth needs to search its soul Posted: 25 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST
It is the weakest of youth wings in Pakatan Rakyat Free Malaysia Today At the recent PAS muktamar in Kota Bahru, the youth wing was taken to task by its own members for its ineffectiveness as a political movement, especially in comparison with its counterparts in PKR and DAP. However, much of the self criticism was drowned out by the shrillness of attacks against the party organ, Harakah. This is a pity because what PAS Youth needs most of all is a little soul searching. For example, a delegate from Sarawak raised the valid issue of the wing's failure to highlight problems faced by people in his state. He acknowledged that youth chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi did mention Sabah and Sarawak in his opening speech, but only in a general way. "There was no real focus on the issue of the Sarawak people's victimisation by Barisan Nasional," he said. "The poverty rate in Sarawak is 5.3% and there is no water and electricity supply for the interior regions although the state's natural resources contribute enormously to the coffers of the Federal government." Perak delegate Nazri Din challenged the wing's central leadership to come up with a manifesto that suits the needs of youths. Need for a vision "Today we have half million voters in the Felda schemes and 20% of them are youths. The wing must explain to this new Felda generation what it can offer them." Negeri Sembilan delegate Mohd Zulkarnain Mohd Zaki questioned why there had been no update on the activities of the Youth Leadership Academy. "What is the current status of Akademi Kepimpinan Pemuda?" he asked. "We don't know whether it is fully utilised or not." He urged the central leadership to emulate its counterparts in the PKR and DAP youth wings and come up with a "PAS Youth leadership policy". Kelantan delegate Ahmad Marzuk Shaary urged the wing to identify youth figures that would be as prominent as those found in PKR and DAP. "We need to take this matter seriously so that PAS Youth can be a platform for youth leaders," he said. Charisma and creativity Some pro-PAS bloggers agree that PAS Youth is the weakest of Pakatan Rakyat youth wings. Indeed, the Islamic party's youth leaders are noticeably lacking in charisma and political creativity. Nasrudin himself, as well as his deputy, Nik Abduh Abdul Aziz, may be competent as Islamic scholars, but neither of them is notable for ideas that suit Malaysia's political culture. Many observers believe that PAS Youth will not progress in local politics as long as its leadership is dominated by the ulama group. In several states, the focus of activities is more religious than political. Thus we have PAS Youth leaders who seem to spend more time preaching and delivering lectures in the mosques than organising and carrying out political activities. This is a far cry from the days when the wing was led by such figures as Mohamad Sabu, Salahuddin Ayub and Mahfuz Omar. Thus there is no need to explain why Nasrudin, Nik Abduh and other youth leaders from PAS do not get much coverage either in Harakah or any other news publication. If PAS Youth wants more press coverage for its leaders, then it must encourage them to emulate, for instance, PKR's Rafizi Ramli, and take more interest in exposing political scandals and abuses by the ruling regime. An exception A senior PAS leader who spoke to FMT on condition of anonymity said there were plenty of newsy issues in his state but the youth chief there, an ulama, had failed to capitalise on them for political mileage. "I have to feed him with the information and push him to have press conferences to highlight the issues," he said. "I even have to ask my secretary to arrange for the press conferences. The coordination factor is so weak." Nevertheless, critics and even detractors would have to congratulate PAS Youth for its Unit Amal, the most well organised and the most effective security unit in Pakatan Rakyat.
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| Is Pakatan really ready to govern? Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:48 AM PST
If what Anwar has done in PKR and Pakatan is testimony to what he is capable of doing, then he is not acceptable to the Malays. CT Ali, FMT The thing with a general election is this: politicians stand in front of us minus their arrogance, minus their latest Mercedes, minus their mansion in their gated community, minus their secretaries, aides, friends and all the trappings that money can buy to humbly ask you for your votes. And no matter who they are, in politics there will come that moment when doubt enters their mind and they will nervously ask themselves if maybe this will be the time when karma will hit them in the face. Will they raise their arms in triumph after the returning officer have declared them the winner or do they gamely extend their hands to their opponent to congratulate them for their victory even as they desperately look for an exit to go commiserate with themselves for their loss? But before they arrive at that moment in time, there is still a life to be lived and an election to be won by these politicians. The nation is their oyster! And what they have done or promised to do to our nation bears reflection – be it Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat or the Independents – before you decide whom to vote for. Today we are a nation in a flux. There are verbal and physical political scuffles, racial unrest, religious turmoil and, some say, our economy is in free-fall while others insist that we are poised for growth. The ebb and flow of political rhetoric emitting from within BN and Pakatan is deafening and impossible to ignore and the 13th general election hangs like a cloud threatening to bring floods to low-lying areas or much-needed rain for farmers – take your pick! Over all this presides Najib Tun Razak. He is confident of electoral victory and why should he not be? He makes Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's attempts at reforms look unimaginative. His pace in announcing, initiating and implementing reforms is robust but his disregard for fiscal propriety is worrying. But in an election year he will do what he must to try and ensure that a public sated with BN largesse will reciprocate by casting their votes for BN. BN believes that electoral victory is at hand, but Najib is still unsure if BN can retake Selangor and so for now he waits to find a way to do so before calling for the games to begin. For the opposition, the Internet chatter and a perceived surge of support from the people point to a glittering final furlong in the run-up to the 13th general election. But all that glitters is not gold. Pakatan claims it is in ascendancy politically – not yet totally able to fully dominate all that it surveys but there are reasons to think that Putrajaya beckons. After all, Pakatan ceramahs are well attended and the juggernaut of Anwar Ibrahim seems to cut a swathe even through the rural areas where Umno dominates. Johor totters invitingly towards its side of the divide and the defections of once Umno stalwarts is heartening. Surely, Pakatan says, the people of this nation have had enough of a BN government. Pakatan says it is time for change. DAP, PAS and PKR will overcome their distrusts for each other and work for their common good – that of trying to take political power from the Umno-led BN. But in politics trying is never enough. In politics what matters are the numbers that you methodically accumulate. Vote by vote, constituency-by-constituency, state-by-state, one MP at a time marshalling them all into a momentum of sorts that moves in tandem towards ensuring ultimate victory at the polls. This is no easy task. It requires organised manpower, adequate financial resources, an electoral machinery in synch with the tasks demanded of it by its political masters and yet able to gauge and accommodate the nuances of a fickle electorate. Put all this together and you will have the general election handed over to you on a plate. Huh… easier said than done. Now who, between BN and Pakatan, have done that? Both sides of the divide are desperately positive that their side will triumph. Both sides are desperately optimistic that they have the numbers to ensure that enough of their MPs will be elected to enable their side to form the government. Of course, you need to be optimistic and positive… but desperately so? Why desperately so? Let me tell you why. Is Pakatan really ready? Pakatan has asked that we give the opposition alliance the mandate to form the government, but who from Pakatan will govern our nation? Or more to the point, who do we want from Pakatan to govern us? Who will be prime minister, deputy prime minister and who shall be in Cabinet? Who will be the menteris besar and who will be governors and datuk bandars? What are the policies they will implement? How will the sharing of power between PKR, DAP and PAS be reflected in reality? Surely not with three deputy prime ministers and enough ministers to field five football teams (and reserves) without outside help. All these questions we have asked of Pakatan leaders but they have yet to answer to our satisfaction. We ask and Pakatan tells us: "Let us get into government first and then we will see! We will know what to do." How can they know what to do in Putrjaya when they do not know what to do with PKR and Anwar – or are they in denial that there is a problem with PKR and Anwar? They know that it is Anwar who calls the shots in PKR, not Azmin Ali. If Azmin talks about Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's "promotion" into Cabinet, then it is Anwar who wants Khalid to be in the Cabinet. Then what of Selangor? Who does Anwar want to be menteri besar of Selangor? If Pakatan is unable to resolve this at state level, then the matter of who will become what at federal level only portends ill for Pakatan – what more for our nation. This is but one issue that Pakatan has failed to address. There are others.
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