Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Pakatan’s battle for PM must take backseat Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:12 PM PST It is wise for Pakatan to focus on the many tasks at hand and put 'who best be PM' speculations to rest Jeswan Kaur, FMT The on-going debate in the Pakatan Rakyat camp on who can best lead the country should the opposition win in the coming 13th general election is a disaster in the making. For one, there is no consensus among the Pakatan members on who is deserving of the premiership mantle. PAS believes its president, Abdul Hadi Awang, meets the pre-requisites of a prime minister while DAP says it backs former deputy prime minister-turned-Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. To have dissenting voices in the Pakatan fold on who is the preferred choice to helm Malaysia is giving its arch-rival Barisan Nasional the much-needed fodder to further discredit the opposition in the eyes of the rakyat. The people have in the aftermath of the 2008 general election learned to be more selective in their choice of who really is deserving of their trust and support to call the shots from Putrajaya. But for now, it is important that Pakatan pulls the brake and puts a stop to the "Abdul Hadi Awang vs Anwar Ibrahim as PM" speculation. What is more urgent is the need to stay united and leave no room for BN to infiltrate and subvert Pakatan's efforts in staying in the good books of the people. Whether it is Hadi or Anwar or Lim Guan Eng, for that matter, is not the issue; the point that needs to be driven home is that the premiership is not for the popular but instead is an arduous responsibility that requires the right aptitude. Hence, the need for Pakatan to take a good and hard look at who is the right candidate for the job. Does Pakatan have the answer as to which candidate is the perfect pick? Are the names that are being mentioned truly deserving or is it a case of "popular appeal"? Pakatan needs to think hard Should Pakatan outdo BN in the 13th general election and land in Putrajaya, the rakyat will in no way tolerate any BN-like shenanigans by the opposition. With that in mind, Pakatan must be very sure whom it wants to place in the premier's chair. Is Anwar the right candidate, despite the many controversies surrounding him? Or is it the scholarly Hadi whom the rakyat can depend on to navigate the nation to greater heights? For now, with time still on its hands, the opposition has to double up efforts in sustaining the rakyat's trust in it, instead of politicking and appearing disinterested and disunited. Maybe that is why former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad seized the opportunity to take a swipe at Pakatan and its over-enthusiasm in name-dropping for the premiership. As usual, taking liberty with his words, Mahathir says even the former Tiger of Jelutong and DAP chairman and no-nonsense lawyer Karpal Singh will be gunning to become the next prime minister. Sounding callous as ever, Mahathir, who thus far holds the record for being Malaysia's longest- serving premier, is implying that greed for power has become the order of the day in Pakatan's fold. "Let Karpal be the PM. He, after all, has fought for so long. And when he retires, Karpal will receive the Tun title," was how Mahathir put it.
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| Can Pakatan weather the Hadi storm? Posted: 23 Nov 2012 02:57 PM PST All issues raised by BN leaders pertaining to the 'breaking-up' of Pakatan is pure nonsense and must be treated as such At the end of the day, even if one million PAS members want Hadi to be the prime minister, the decision is at the hands of the CWC which has 35 decision-makers. Unlike Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim who has already been endorsed by both the Syura Council and the CWC, Hadi has yet to obtain the endorsement of both the Syura Council and the CWC. Selena Tay, FMT The suggestion by a PAS delegate that Abdul Hadi Awang be the seventh prime minister of Malaysia should Pakatan Rakyat succeed in winning the 13th general election is actually not a big deal. As far as knowledge of the workings of PAS is concerned, this columnist dares to say that a Hadi candidature will only get as far as the PAS central working committee (CWC). This is how it works. The Dewan Ulama will propose Hadi's name to the Syura Council consisting of religious leaders/ulama headed by Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the PAS spiritual adviser. After obtaining the endorsement of the Syura Council, Hadi's name will then be submitted to the PAS CWC which has members consisting of both ulama and professionals. At the end of the day, even if one million PAS members want Hadi to be the prime minister, the decision is at the hands of the CWC which has 35 decision-makers. Unlike Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim who has already been endorsed by both the Syura Council and the CWC, Hadi has yet to obtain the endorsement of both the Syura Council and the CWC. In fact, there are others in PAS with economic expertise who are more suited to the prime minister's post compared to Hadi but let us not get into that. Moreover, Anwar has sound economic knowledge and thus the PAS CWC will stick with Anwar and therefore even if PAS wins more seats than its coalition partners, Anwar will still be the prime minister. So the polemics of this matter can be put to rest although it must be said that that particular PAS delegate who raised this issue at the PAS muktamar (national conference) is unwise to do so at a time when the 13th general election is just around the corner. As usual, the Barisan Nasional-controlled mainstream media will play up the issue to the hilt by saying that there is no unity or harmony among the Pakatan component parties. According to a PAS MP, who wished to remain anonymous, the conservatives in PAS have fallen into the trap laid by ex-PAS man Dr Hasan Ali (state assemblyman for Gombak Setia) and the present Bachok MP, Nasharuddin Mat Isa. "These two men keep harping on PAS' so-called deviation from its Islamic struggle and this caused the conservatives to try to promote a more Islamic image for PAS. The exuberance displayed by the conservatives no doubt has spilled over into the muktamar," said this MP. "However, we adhere to the principle of 'tahaluf siyasi' which is the principle of co-operation with our Pakatan allies and this principle has already been endorsed by both the Syura Council and the CWC. This simply means that Anwar will be the prime minister in the event that Pakatan wins the 13th general election," added the same MP, who is also a member of the high-powered PAS CWC. Thus this simply means that Hadi's name will be stuck at the CWC assuming that the Syura Council will endorse him but even this has yet to happen.
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