Monday, October 31, 2005
[666] Of the devil PAS or the devil UMNO?
The 666th post for an entry on PAS. It truly couldn't be any more appropriate than this.

Earlier today, Pengkalan Pasir Assemblyman Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar passed away, leaving a state assembly seat in Kelantan up for grab. This death should remind PAS what they had found out in the last Malaysian general election - PAS is in trouble. How big a trouble:
Wan Abdul Aziz contested on a PAS ticket in the last general election and beat the Barisan Nasional's candidate, Hanafi Mamat, by a slim 55-vote majority.

He polled 7,168 against Hanafi's 7,113.

And the bigger picture:
"The present situation is really interesting. If prior to this PAS held 24 seats and Barisan Nasional (BN) 21, now PAS has only 23 seats...Can't say much, but its an interesting development," he said this when met by reporters after paying his last respects to Wan Abdul Aziz at the latter's home in Kubang Bemban, Pasir Mas.

This is also a sneak peak at PAS u-turn in trying to look more moderate. In my opinion however, this u-turn might backfire.

PAS is not alone in this u-turn and certainly no the first. While PAS is slowly trying to relabel itself as moderate Islamist party, UMNO has been doing a more-Islamic-than-PAS ever since Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became UMNO President with his Islam Hadhari. I personally think Islam Hadhari is balderdash but what's important is, UMNO's u-turn has been tested and it works. That's all the matters.

PAS u-turn however is a little bit risky. By becoming more moderate, PAS may stand a chance nationally but not on state level. PAS doesn't need to move leftward in the political spectrum in Kelantan. Reason is, the population there is already stuck in the right. Too much shifting to the left will see PAS risking disfranchising its base. Already, when PAS invited Mawi to perform in Kelantan, crack was showing within PAS ranks.

But then, I have the impression that Mawi's concert was a sellout. This so-called Mawi-factor might be an asset instead of a liability. You'll never know but given what I know right now, I'll put my money on UMNO this time.

As for me, I don't really care who will win. Whether it will be PAS or UMNO, I don't see how it changes the dynamic in Kelantan state assembly. PAS still won't control two thirds of the state assembly and UMNO or BN, still won't get half of total seat. This upcoming by-election, which needs to be held within the next 60 days, is more about psychology.

Nevertheless, the next 60 days will be important for battleground Kelantan. Pengkalan Pasir by-election will serve as a signal of things to come in 2008. Or 2009.

p/s - oh yeah, joining the bandwagon, Happy Halloween to those that celebrate it. Er, I mean, Deepavali.
09:45 EST | (8) Comments

Hey man, very nice blog you've got here. So, you're a green libertarian, huh? A social democrat here :) Anyway, mind me linking you up in my blog?

By Cypher, at 01 November, 2005 02:26  


nope. don't mind at all. be my guest.

By __earth, at 01 November, 2005 07:24  


I'm quite fed up of our elections here, actually. Not because of gerrymandering or BN's playing dirty tricks - that's to be expected, honestly. I'm fed up because there's no real choice. Ask any educated and well-informed Malay to choose between UMNO and PAS - who do you think he'll vote for? A vote for UMNO guarantees corruption, incompetency and just accelerates Malaysia's slide into irrelevance in the world economy. A vote for PAS guarantees Talibanist theocracy - look at how they tried to segregate checkout lines at the kedai runcit in Kelantan, or implement hudud in Terengganu. (I have nothing against Islam - it's the mixture of religion with government I have trouble with. If there were a Christian party advocating the establishment of a Christian theocracy, you bet I'd protest it as well.)

Then added to that is the fact that the government has made it clear local council elections will not be held. (You can read the full column from the government-owned New Straits Times here.) The article states that, among other reasons, local council elections cannot be held because "policy-makers know from experience worldwide that the Opposition tends to dominate such councils as part of the electorate’s desire for checks-and-balances." It's so blatant! Therefore, all local councillors need to do is kiss a little booty to get appointed, and then take long "lawatan sambil belajar" trips to the Bahamas or Disneyland all on taxpayer money. It's disgracious.

Guess how the government proposes to resolve this issue? "Top of the agenda are legislative amendments freeing the councils to act on underperforming staff, such as by transferring them out." Yes, "transferring them out". That's the Malaysian civil service's solution to every problem. Let the guy spread his trouble elsewhere, just as long as it's NIMBY (not in my backyard).

Anyway, sorry for sidetracking from the elections. So, there is really no choice when it comes to elections here. You have to pick from two extremes. PKR is out of the equation because it's weak (a "mosquito party", some would say) and identifies too much with PAS, so you've got the non-Muslim voters scared away. The DAP? Not bloody likely. The Malays view it as chauvinistic, especially since its two faces are Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh - no Malay anywhere in sight (worser still, it was founded by *gasp* Jews!). Even other well-known DAP leaders (like Ronnie Liu Tian Kiew) are largely faceless and anonymous - I know I couldn't pick Liu out of a crowd if my life depended on it. The working class Chinese don't identify with the DAP's socialist philosophy because it strikes them as just having too much effect on their rice bowl (regardless of the truth). The Indians might be counted upon, but they're just too small in numbers to have much effect.

If anyone is eligible to vote in this by-election, I encourage you to spoil your vote. It doesn't matter whether PAS or UMNO wins - either way, how much will the status quo change? Both are pretty bad, and at least you can feel good about not having supported either party. Spoiling your vote can also relieve a lot of stress - just conteng the ballot with whatever you like. Draw a middle finger, scribble a "saya tidak setuju dengan polisi-polisi PAS dan UMNO", do whatever you like.

Hey, spoilt votes do count. They're part of the official tally. Wouldn't it be fun to see the faces of election and party officials if (when? Well, not likely) they announce a 40% proportion of spoilt votes? Sure, it maintains the status quo, but it's something that hasn't been tried, and right now I'm so pissed with both the government and opposition, anything would be better than voting for either of them. (I'm sure a lot of other folks feel the same way too - everyone's aware of the issues, they just can't be bothered because the opposition isn't much better, in their opinion.)

In the long run, it might be better if we began looking into the possibility of reforming the opposition or forming a new party. Clearly the existing parties are not going to be very receptive towards change - PAS is about ketuanan Islam, PKR is about ketuanan Anwar, and the DAP is about ketuanan kutuk (all they know how to do is criticise). We need a multiracial (but with sufficient representation from all ethnic groups) party that can seize power, or at least wake up the government and opposition sufficiently. I've collected a bunch of thoughts on forming such a party, but I expect there will be many points of contention that have to be resolved. Anyway, I'm just rambling here, aren't I? Sorry for intruding on your blog, _earth. :p

By johnleemk, at 02 November, 2005 04:36  


This is the problem with Malaysian. Too naive and idealistic. Politics is all about games, not about individual whom you like or dont.

Wake up johnleemk, the problem Malaysia is facing now is because BN thinks that they are invincible, that's why they behave like monkeys in Parliment and media, because they know they can escape even by being an idiot. Since politics is a game, we as citizen should show them that we are the one in power buy swinging the votes to oppositions, regardless you like them or not, or even if they are weak (it is the voters who makes them weak in the first place).

Once BN realised this, then they will start to buck up and behave. See how much effort they put in to win back Terengganu?

Stop waiting for an idealistic political party. Even if it exist, government will use their propaganda machine to tarnish the party's reputation (and most people actually will believe the propaganda, eg. the opposition is only to make trouble) and also injecting few moles into the party too, to make the party unstable, to talk bad about the party and to create internal fightings.

Now tell me if you are still waiting for a perfect political party?

Just start playing the political game so that those monkeys in Parliment will behave less like a monkey and treate us citizen as human rather than fools (unfortunately, most citizen still are at the moment).

By Anonymous, at 05 November, 2005 10:18  


This is the problem with Malaysian. Too naive and idealistic.
Excuse me? If you ask me, most Malaysians are so practical and concrete that they don't even bother with abstract issues such as politics.

Wake up johnleemk, the problem Malaysia is facing now is because BN thinks that they are invincible, that's why they behave like monkeys in Parliment and media, because they know they can escape even by being an idiot.
Well, I think I'm being the realistic one here. The average man is a coward. He won't vote for the opposition because he is so afraid of it. (And if he has to choose between BN and PAS, I don't blame him.) The only practical middle-of-the-road solution is spoiling one's vote. It will eat into BN's majority and topple BN in some constituencies, but it will at least ensure the opposition won't become the government. (Not that I have anything against that - it's the average guy who does.) Of course, it's a ridiculous measure, but you can't get most of the voters to vote for the opposition, so why not try for the next best thing?

And, also, if you ask me, the DAP plays into BN's hands too often, especially because it chases idealistic issues the common man can't relate to. The DAP is easily portrayed as a bourgeouis party because of its harping on the ISA - the common man thinks, "who will be detained under the ISA except a few oddballs?" If the DAP actually did more than just talk about such idealistic issues and move motions in Parliament to reform the system, it would be harder to dismiss them as just a party that opposes for the sake of opposing. True, any such motion would be defeated. But it would influence public perception, and that's important too. It shifts the blame to BN, for not supporting the motion. Now, it's too easy for the government to laugh at the opposition for "all talk, no action".

By johnleemk, at 06 November, 2005 08:57  


I am the anonymous up there. Sorry for being anonymous.

Excuse me? If you ask me, most Malaysians are so practical and concrete that they don't even bother with abstract issues such as politics.
What is so practical by being not bother about politics? Don't you know most of the problems that we face in our daily life derive from politics and bad country management? You are just trying to run away from the source of the problem, only to make it worse.

but you can't get most of the voters to vote for the opposition, so why not try for the next best thing?
You call this the next best thing? Even if the opposition can't win, at least voting for them will reduce the winning margin of BN, thus will jolt BN up from their complacency. This is realistic, not your ridiculous measure which derives when ones being too emotional. BN will love people behaving like you, even though you might not like BN.

Now, it's too easy for the government to laugh at the opposition for "all talk, no action".
Yes, the government is laughing at the opposition because opposition can do much. Government can continue to behave like monkeys. Do you know why? Because we did not give oppositions the fangs they need to bite the government. We must make opposition the powerful watch dog.

There's no perfect government or corruption free country, but with powerful oppositions, government will be more behaved and will at least walk some of their talk rather than false promises that we are getting now.

By a malaysian, at 07 November, 2005 11:40  


I would rather vote an independent. At least he/she can voice our needs in Parliament without being reprimanded! (yes it's true, you get 'fired' by voicing your contituency's view if it is against the party line). But it's so hard finding an independent these days...

By tripledot, at 08 November, 2005 22:19  


What is so practical by being not bother about politics? Don't you know most of the problems that we face in our daily life derive from politics and bad country management? You are just trying to run away from the source of the problem, only to make it worse.
Do not confuse me with the majority of Malaysians. Ignoring the fact that most Malaysians don't care about politics and pretending everyone understands the issues only compounds the existing problems faced by the opposition.

You call this the next best thing? Even if the opposition can't win, at least voting for them will reduce the winning margin of BN, thus will jolt BN up from their complacency. This is realistic, not your ridiculous measure which derives when ones being too emotional. BN will love people behaving like you, even though you might not like BN.
For mainstream voters, yes, it is the next-best thing. If you have not talked to a large number of this people, then you don't understand what is going on in their heads. Moderate Malays will not vote for PAS, but they consider the DAP racist and PKR to be too close to PAS. There, the three main opposition parties all gone. You can try to educate these voters, but I will take what I can get for now while trying to educate them. Everyone agrees BN is useless, but we disagree on whether the opposition can be any better. Therefore, for those of us who dislike the opposition as much as the government, spoiling our vote is a reasonable choice. Consider it voting for "none of the above".

Yes, the government is laughing at the opposition because opposition can do much. Government can continue to behave like monkeys. Do you know why? Because we did not give oppositions the fangs they need to bite the government. We must make opposition the powerful watch dog.
By voting for PAS or its useless adik, PKR? You will find it extremely hard to convince moderate Malays that the DAP can be trusted - even educated and knowledgeable Malays have trouble believing the DAP will look out for them. So? You're never going to get these people to vote for PAS, so why are we trying? Just tell them to spoil their vote if they have to choose between two parties they hate equally.

There's no perfect government or corruption free country, but with powerful oppositions, government will be more behaved and will at least walk some of their talk rather than false promises that we are getting now.
Nobody is denying that. The problem is that mainstream voters do not trust the opposition any more than they trust the government.

By johnleemk, at 14 November, 2005 05:58  


                   
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