I have written many letters supporting PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail because as the opposition leader, I know the difficulties and challenges she must face each day. It is a tough balancing act requiring goodwill, negotiations, trade-offs and compromises.  

But for how long should the present limbo in Pakatan Rakyat be allowed to continue? Trade-offs and compromises are only possible for issues that are tradable and negotiable.  But are the differences in Pakatan reconcilable?  

Although there is no impending election right now but eventually Pakatan must face the reality.  How do we expect Pakatan to go into the next election as a team if fundamental problems within the coalition are not resolved now?  

Please don’t continue to indulge in baloney - Pakatan is dead, alive or fainted; PAS to resign or not to resign from their positions in Penang and Selangor; and whether or not Pakatan still exists in spirit or in substance. Is there even an agenda within the coalition to begin negotiation? Perhaps the coalition partners are just trying to inflict the maximum damage on each other before they go their separate ways.

When Malaysians want Umno-BN replaced, I think it is not just for reasons of bad governance, corruption or incompetence. I think most Malaysians must have also thought that Pakatan is a viable alternative with progressive policies backed up by capable and honest leaders.

No doubt, fighting against bad governance, corruption or incompetence is an attractive proposition. But then the recent impasse within Pakatan has opened the eyes of many. I think many would agree with me that it is not a good idea to get rid of one regime only to be replaced by endless infighting, bigotry, parochialism, archaism, and stupidity.

The prospect of anarchy is real if Umno-BN is defeated but Pakatan has remained at loggerheads on the most fundamental issues.    

The coalition must decide unequivocally now whether they want a Malaysia that is secular, progressive and inclusive or a Malaysia that is theocratic, conformist, and parochial. The former represent a paradigm shift while the latter is just a continuation of existing policies, not unlike Umno-BN’s. I am saying all these not just from the religious perspective. Rampant corruption and abuse of power are usually born out of a docile, conformist and feudalistic culture.

There is enough evidence to suggest that this once progressive and self-assured nation has moved towards the wrong direction, prompted and propelled by conservative forces in which one of Pakatan’s coalition partners is a main player. So, I say no more boiling frog. Pakatan must make its decision now which direction to pursue. I will hold all Pakatan partners responsible for indulging in ‘dangerous liaisons’ if they continue to procrastinate.

Pakatan is welcome to provide the alternative. But that alternative must be based on leadership and enlightenment, not on popularity and appeasement. Ignorant and archaic people must be won over with knowledge and pragmatism, not by continuously feeding them with what they were indoctrinated to believe.