YOURSAY 'Can PSM and Pakatan have this discussion behind closed doors? Is it necessary to wash your dirty linen in public?'

PSM may force three-cornered fights with PKR

Komdunia: PSM's Dr D Jeyakumar, under whose logo the candidates contest is not the important thing, the final mission and objective is to give the rakyat a good, clean government for the peace and prosperity of all and future generations of Malaysians.

When you were languishing in Kamunting not too long ago, we all prayed for your health and worked for your eventual freedom.

There was no logo, no party loyalty, just us the ordinary Malaysians who feel, believe and empathise with you.

Some of us have yet to have the chance or opportunity to celebrate this with you, so please do not split hairs over this. A win for PKR is just as good as a win for PSM - it is for the rakyat.

Raja1949: Pakatan Rakyat, what is wrong with PSM wanting to use their own symbol if you have decided to allow them to contest? Win or lose, the rakyat will decide. The issue is: there should not be a three-cornered fight, period.

Middle Aged Man: The PSM logo is not suitable? That's the silliest excuse I have ever heard from PKR deputy president Azmin Ali or from any stooge, so to speak.

Come on, you are supposed to be allies, contesting separately under one's own logo. And I happen to like that logo more than PKR's.

Mayvbwell: It is time to unite all forces to fight the devil we know, Umno-BN. I see no harm in letting PSM use their own logo now that PSM is registered. PKR and Anwar Ibrahim, please exercise your wisdom.

SKT: PSM has overrated themselves. The majority of the voters in these areas don't even know what the acronym PSM stands for or recognise the party logo.

Powerstar: Those who say PSM is greedy are those who don't know the party's history. They fought in four seats in 2008, and now they want to stand in the same four seats. Is PSM greedy? I support PSM on this.

Harapanbaru: PSM has my respect and admiration for its dedication and courage. I strongly advise Anwar and Pakatan to reconsider its irrational prejudice against the PSM ‘clenched fist' logo.

Personally I don't care much for it, as I don't subscribe to the notion of ‘struggle' which is rooted in a victim and underdog consciousness.

But the PSM leaders I have met are all honourable and worthy parliamentarians. Let them contest under the Pakatan umbrella with their own identity intact.

MfM: Pakatan is making a logical stand. Voters know Pakatan, they don't know PSM. PSM's former MPs won their seats because they used Pakatan component party logos, not their own.

The only reason Pakatan does not have its own coalition logo is because the BN and Registrar of Societies (ROS) are in cahoots to deny them this.

Otherwise, PSM would still have to forego its logo and use the Pakatan common logo. PSM should stop being arrogant and just accept using any Pakatan logo to contest.

Forcing a three-cornered fight would only result in PSM losing their candidates' deposits. PSM leaders have what it takes, but stop being arrogant and accept the fact that the main body of the coalition wants it this way.

ACR: The actual issue at stake is PSM's acceptance by Pakatan. PKR's insistence that the PSM candidates use their logo and not PSM's is to ensure that Pakatan does not give the impression that PSM is part of Pakatan, which begs the question why hasn't a decision been made on PSM's entry into Pakatan. Petty squabbles at this eleventh hour is not good.

Rayfire: Can PSM and Pakatan have this discussion behind closed doors? Is it necessary to wash your dirty linen in public? The logo is secondary if you ask me, I want reliable candidates, simple as that.

I urge people to evaluate your candidates. You have seen the effects of those frogs emerging as winners and defecting at will. BN or Pakatan, if you don't put up good candidates, you will fail the people who put trust on you.

We don't need circus clowns from either side. You want a first-class Parliament, choose candidates worthy of it. There are some good leaders from both sides. Retain them and get rid of all the clowns, whichever side they belong to.

Neutralgrounds: PSM to me is the trailblazer of sorts in the wave that we now see. PSM leaders were the first ones to announce disclosing their bank accounts even before DAP state leaders.

I also know S Arutchelvan as he had contested in Semenyih under the PKR ticket but he now wants to use his party's own. PSM's fight is similar to Pakatan's so stop fighting among yourselves and fight the common enemy.

Jimmy Ng: PSM, please look at the bigger picture. Does it really matter whose logo to use for this coming GE? Please put aside your selfish personal reasons and for once think of the greater good for all Malaysians.

Once BN has been kicked out, then I am sure everybody can sit down to resolve all the issues. If not, then you can always kick some more ass come the next GE. But for now, ubah!

Jerit: Jeyakumar has been praised as one of the best parliamentarians who talks facts. PSM chairperson Mohd Nasir Hashim is a former ISA detainee, who gave up his job at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia as dean of the medical faculty to serve the society.

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan is an economics graduate from UKM who leads a simple life and is always at the forefront in helping the poor and oppressed. M Saraswathy won the Yayuri Award in Japan, and started activism when she was 16 and gave up her career as a lab technician to serve the people full-time.

When it comes to issues of housing for the poor, minimum wage, monthly wage for estate workers, the anti-GST (goods and services tax) campaign, anti-FTA (free trade agreement) campaign, anti-oil price hike campaign, anti-privatisation campaign, you name it, PSM people were there.

The members in PSM are factory workers, estate workers, students, activists, labourers, small traders and so on.

All their leaders are reluctant politicians who want to fight for the cause and use their own money to employ full-timers and open service centres, whether they win or lose the elections. Who else would be eligible to contest if not they?

NA: I have nothing but respect and admiration for PSM for their beliefs and ideological stance. However, the reality is, in a three-cornered fight, PSM candidates will definitely lose and BN has a better chance of winning.

PSM without Pakatan support, even in a straight fight against BN has zero chance of winning. For the sake of your supporters and to ensure that your representatives still have seats at the table, PSM's leadership must opt for the greater good and compromise.

Otherwise, there will be no PSM representatives at all, at least until the next election.

Gerard Lourdesamy: It is squabbling like this that causes Pakatan to lose credibility in the eyes of the voters. Clearly the BN is far better when it comes to seat allocations. So what if PSM wants to use their own logo? That is their right as a political party.

With or without the logo, Umno will still play the communist card against PSM candidates. Let PSM stand on its own in the three seats, but not Jelapang (where the DAP has a better chance of winning).

But PKR, PAS and DAP must go and help their ally to win these seats. Three-cornered fights only help the BN win. Is this what Pakatan wants in such a tight GE13 contest?

The problem with Pakatan is that it has too many ‘leaders' and very few ‘followers'. Leader Anwar Ibrahim's management of the coalition so far has been a disaster. If you can't even get your act together before the elections, how do you expect to govern the country after the elections, if you win?

Tehachapi: Sacrifice self-interests in favour of public interests. How important is the PSM logo? Until we can embrace one another and ignore the minute and insignificant differences between us, while accepting our common destiny, we people will ultimately lose to more cunning forces out there intending to divide us.

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