COMMENT | Umno-PKR partnership: Game changer or playing the same game?
COMMENT | Esteemed columnist Kim Quek wrote an article arguing that PKR and Umno would make a great combination.
I met Kim long ago, and he is a kind and decent gentleman. I disagree with most of his argument in his column, however, and thought I might detail why by examining some key quotes in his article.
As a quick aside beforehand, it is worth noting that reading some authors gives one clear insight into the minds and intentions of the politicians they favour.
“From sheer numerical consideration, such a partnership is a winning formula.”
It is a "winning’ formula" in so far as forming a majority among today’s MPs, assuming that parties like DAP and Amanah are on board with this partnership - a big assumption to make at this point.
It is by no means a clear winning formula for going into GE 15, which Wong Chin Huat reminds us is less than two years away.
Before getting into the thorny question of seat...
COMMENT | Esteemed columnist Kim Quek wrote an article arguing that PKR and Umno would make a great combination.
I met Kim long ago, and he is a kind and decent gentleman. I disagree with most of his argument in his column, however, and thought I might detail why by examining some key quotes in his article.
As a quick aside beforehand, it is worth noting that reading some authors gives one clear insight into the minds and intentions of the politicians they favour.
“From sheer numerical consideration, such a partnership is a winning formula.”
It is a "winning’ formula" in so far as forming a majority among today’s MPs, assuming that parties like DAP and Amanah are on board with this partnership - a big assumption to make at this point.
It is by no means a clear winning formula for going into GE 15, which Wong Chin Huat reminds us is less than two years away.
Before getting into the thorny question of seat negotiations, there is the yet simpler question: who will be the prime ministerial candidate of this "partnership"?
Umno may accept a PM from PKR today, if it results in a change of government; but it is as naive as it is foolish to think that Umno will accept anyone outside their party as PM candidate in the next elections.
Why on earth would they? Any Umno leader who agreed to do so would be eaten alive by his or her party faithful.
There is no way a party with Umno’s history would ever accept playing second fiddle.
The only people who cannot see this are those who are so blinded and bedazzled with the prospect of finally being crowned emperor, that they have confused nakedness for new clothes.
“From the nation-building point of view, this multiracial grouping is also the right structure for success. Such a truly multiracial government would at least provide the foundation for the partnership to build its superstructure.
"Whether it will succeed will, of course, depends on whether the leaders could formulate the right policy and provide the right leadership to the people.”
What multiracial grouping? What multiracial government?
This ridiculous line of reasoning seeks to twist and turn logic into a pretzel.
There are two distinct approaches - as different as night and day.
One is Umno’s model: separate parties for each race, with Malay-based Umno as the unchallengeable and domineering big brother.
In recent times, MCA and MIC could not ever win in any major Chinese or Indian seats. They had to take what crumbs they could from the table in very Malay seats, and rely totally on Umno support. And Umno liked that just fine.
The other approach is PKR’s model of a multiracial party - the complete antithesis of the Umno model, and rightly so.
Calling such a hypothetical partnership "multiracial" is like calling the combination of a conservative party and a liberal party a liberal coalition. It not only flies, but spits in the very face of logic and common sense.
The words "right policy" and "right leadership" ring hollow and smack of hypocrisy, given that PKR was built (not that long ago!) to right all of Umno’s wrong policies, and right all of Umno’s wrong leadership.
If PKR cannot remember its roots, then we can only conclude that those who criticised it for merely being a vehicle for one man’s ambition may have been right all along.
“This idea may sound fine and dandy, but in reality, the path to the partnership of these bitter enemies is strewn with almost insurmountable obstacles.”
In this, I agree 100 percent. And I believe those obstacles can and should be insurmountable, with good reason.
“However, understanding the following truism will help to break down entrenched differences and encourage common effort:
"Taking power is the pre-requisite to any attempt to reform and move the country forward. Without governing power, all good ideas and ideals remain as such and will not be transformed into reality.”
This is not a truism. It is perhaps the most toxic, harmful, and detestable falseism in all of Malaysian democracy.
It is this falseism that has led generation after generation of idealists to get swallowed up by Malaysia’s feudal and corrupt politics, turning them into mere shells of their former selves.
It is this falseism that makes us worship Very Important People to the point where the real VIPs (Values, Ideals, and Principles) are sacrificed and burnt as offerings to these false idols.
No Mr Kim, having principles and clearly-defined shared values is the pre-requisite to a stable government. Without these, any "partnership" will go exactly the way of Pakatan Rakyat, Pakatan Harapan 1.0, and now, Perikatan Nasional.
Should PKR be foolish enough to rely on Umno, they will find themselves in exactly the position Bersatu is now - completely beholden and held hostage. It is truly difficult to comprehend the willingness to ignore this painfully obvious truth.
Enough of this obsession with the idea that gaining power quickly via some instant noodles nonsense politicking is the only way to realise "good ideas and ideals".
I say no. I say that our current crop of leaders wouldn’t know "good ideas and ideals" if it bit them in the backside.
It is because they have forgotten what those are; they slither around in the fetid swamp of our politics, thinking of little beyond how to backstab one another and emerge on top of a dirty pile of dirty politicians.
As long as people continue to put the cart of power in front of the horse of principles, becoming completely unable to discern between friend and foe, we will never see genuine change or improvement.
“Striking up a viable Umno-Harapan partnership on sound principles will surely be a game changer that will transform the country into the next level of nation-building.”
Anyone who puts “Umno-Harapan partnership” and “sound principles” together in a sentence like that is no game changer. It's just playing the same game.
We have seen in 2018 and in 2020 that these political marriages of convenience have resulted not in nation-building, but in the exact opposite: an endless toxic cycle of selfish politicians going round and round, arguing over who plays first or second fiddle, while Malaysia burns around us.
“Time and tide wait for no man.”
Only a man who truly believes that this is his very last chance would go so far as to try and collude with bandits and thieves.
If all this is about that one man, then yes, time and tide will not wait.
If it is about the rest of Malaysia, and about our children, I, for one, will be waiting for the tide to bring in a better boat. No point to escape from a deserted island, only to end up on a sinking ship.
NATHANIEL TAN is a strategic communications consultant. Twitter: @NatAsasi, Clubhouse: @Nathaniel_Tan, Email: nat@engage.my. #BangsaMalaysia #NextGenDemocracy.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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