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Pakatan still alive and kicking, says Kit Siang

By Boo Su-Lyn
November 30, 2010
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has proclaimed Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to be alive and kicking despite internal strife wracking its component parties.

PKR’s recently-concluded direct polls were plagued with allegations of vote rigging that were mostly highlighted by the losers in the election, while Selangor DAP went through one of its most divisive elections last weekend.

“We are more than alive and kicking and we propose to go forward in our political struggle for Malaysia,” said Lim in his closing speech at the PR mentris besar and chief ministers summit in Shah Alam yesterday.

“According to the mainstream media, there are negative reports about what is happening in Pakatan component parties, and that we are neither dead nor alive,” he added.

Lim stressed that it was crucial to acknowledge the drop in public confidence towards the opposition coalition.

“We do not deny that lately, we have faced problems… like a crisis in public confidence towards us. We have to admit this to turn around our political situation,” said the Ipoh Timur MP.

“This summit is important for a turnaround of Pakatan to restore our political momentum for change,” he added.

Yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had told PR state leaders to stop acting as the opposition in governing states under their control.

Lim said PR leaders needed to change their mindsets and focus on administering their respective states well, amid intense speculation that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak may call for snap polls as early as the first quarter of next year.

Kit Siang further rallied PR leaders to not only retain their states in the upcoming general election, but also to capture other states.

“More importantly, we must go on the offensive. Johor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak must be our frontline states in the next general election,” said Kit Siang.

Barisan Nasional (BN) for the first time lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament in 2008. The loose opposition pact of PKR, DAP and PAS won four more states — Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Perak — as well as 82 parliamentary seats.

Today, Kit Siang claimed that the only way for Umno to “reform” was for the country’s largest Malay party to be booted out into the opposition.

“Najib has said Umno will reform. But the only way for Umno to reform is… by sending Umno into the opposition in the next general election,” he added.

Guan Eng, who is DAP secretary-general, also underscored the importance of wooing civil servants in PR’s efforts to run the state.

The Malaysian Insider understands that 30 per cent (420,000) of the 1.2 million in the country’s government service are not registered as voters.

This segment, should they be registered, would be significant in whether BN or PR would form the next administration.

Recently however, Kit Siang warned Selangor DAP that PR might lose Selangor in the next general election if it was not united, reminding the state party convention to learn from PAS’s 2004 loss in Terengganu.

PAS had lost Terengganu in a 4-28 sweep by Umno and BN, reversing its 28-4 victory in the 1999 general election, he said.

Meanwhile, PKR’s fractious polls had culminated with the exit of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim from the deputy presidential race and his resignation from the party.

He had accused the party leadership of condoning electoral fraud and malpractices.

“Only when there is a change of government, can we see a new Malaysia,” said Kit Siang today.

“The next election will be a very important point in the history of Malaysia… when a change of government is accepted as a normal democratic process,” he added.

12 Replies to “Pakatan still alive and kicking, says Kit Siang”

  4. The key to winning GE13 is public relations. In short, it’ll be a full blown media war where dissemination of information will be priority. BN has the advantages as it control 100% of MSM. If the result on March 08 is any indication, it means that the MSM’s influence over voters is diminishing, evidently over the years since then, BN’s increasing presence in the internet has been notable, but the contents lacked the crucial factors that would win back supports. This is naturally so because BN is a failed organization whose leaders admitted that the only way for the party to retain the government is to reform, that’s so much and so hard to prove given the party’s poor records, that in contrast is the advantages for Pakatan Rakyat. So instead of putting the energy and time into reforming the party which BN leaders know is impossible, it is much easier to discredit Pakatan Rakyat and they almost succeeded. We can imagine both BN and PR as two seriously wounded enemy in need of allies and reinforcement to win the war got the third force on their side.

  5. PR is definitely alive and kicking
    PR must do at least the following
    In order to gain more ground
    To win GE13 this time around
    In order to show the evidence
    To build up public confidence
    Be united & practise true democracy
    Identify and rectify any deficiency
    Educate the voters esp in rural heartland
    Common vision & strategy be maintained
    Close ranks to stop any infighting
    Continue to expose any BN wrongdoing
    Spread the message of People’s Supremacy
    Govern your states with efficiency

  11. Divisive election? Its ok. That is inevitable. Really, no two persons can possibly share the exact same views on all things and issues. That is only human. The problem is umno. The root of all evils in the country. You see, umno messed a lot of things up. All of them big time and in big ways. One of them is the culture of maintaining an outwardly united appearance for political parties. This silly culture of course was and still is being fanned by those umno owned/controlled media. And for that culture to work both suppression and oppression of party members must be put into active and vigourous operation. In the long run such measures will only backfire; and it will surely destroy the party concerned. Consider this analogy. Food poisoning will cause vomitting and diarrhea. Just keep them in, umno would tell you. Dissent is healthy. It gives one some alternative views of the same issue. And it is alright to let the differences out into the open. The public has a right to know the real situation; and to make their own assessments and judgments. I therefore would look at the developments in DAP and KeAdilan in a more positive light. This is one important area where the oppositions are ahead of umno. In fact, way way ahead.

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