New party Kuasa Rakyat aims to champion the poor through 'marhaenism'

INTERVIEW | Veteran activist Kamarazaman Yaakob's new political outfit Parti Kuasa Rakyat aims to fight for the downtrodden, with a philosophy of marhaenism.

Marhaen in Malay means the masses and is used colloquially to refer to the poor.

Kamarazaman (above), who is the older brother of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said Kuasa Rakyat will be a BN-friendly multiracial party.

According to the former Semangat 46 and PRM member, Kuasa Rakyat has been in the works for two years, but obstacles have delayed its launch until tomorrow (Oct 10).

The following is Malaysiakini's interview with Kamarazaman.

What's the chronology of Kuasa Rakyat?

In the beginning, we wanted to launch the party on Oct 10 last year, but at the time it was not yet complete in terms of a leadership lineup and the situation was not on our side, so it (the launch) was delayed to this Sunday.

When I met with some people in the current political situation and climate, I felt the need for a multiracial party.

Even though DAP says they are multiracial, and Gerakan too, but the truth is that they are not really multiracial.

The only (multiracial party) that I see is PKR, which can be accepted by all races. But their struggle and ours is different.

With PKR we can see that their struggle is to reform. But I am more specific with the struggle of this party, that I in the end named kuasa rakyat (people's power), which is based on an ideology of nationalism and "marhaenism".

Marhaenism in simple language is a struggle for the marhaen or the poor who are categorised as the B40, and some of the M40.

So we talked about this and in the end decided to form a party.

Our party will be truly multiracial compared to Gerakan or DAP, where our leadership lineup consists of all major races in this country.

The party's structure, for example, we have one president, five deputy presidents and five vice-presidents, while the central committee has 24 members.

The party has also given full autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak.

For the party's state leadership, it's not decided by the president, it's decided in state polls. For Sabah and Sarawak, not only do they get to pick their state leaders but they also pick their representatives to be deputy and vice-presidents.

Why launch the party now? Aren't there too many parties already?

There can be either a lot or few of them depending on the situation. Because political dynamics is like flowing water. It flows and some go down the drain, some go into a lake, and some enter the sea of power.

Yes, there may be many parties but their ideologies are not clear, their struggles are not clear and may not pique interest.

Parties born on ideologies are few. So the question of whether there are too many parties depends on the people's trust, desire and want for a party's struggle.

In the context of this country, the only party that has a clear ideology of nationalism and marhaenism is this party.

Is using the name Parti Kuasa Rakyat which can be abbreviated to PKR going to be confusing to voters?

Our acronym is not PKR. We will not confuse the voters or the public.

Our abbreviation is Kuasa Rakyat. We don't use PKR... we won't use an acronym for our party.

How confident are you that the people will accept this party?

I can't measure that now, it's too early. The tastes of youths today who are 18 are of course different from those who are 96 years old like (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and 70-year-olds like me.

The political climate will determine our influence.

But I believe my struggle is clear, it is for the poor, free scholarships, free healthcare, free housing, environment conservation, jobs and ending the oppression of e-hailing workers who have 20 to 30 percent of their earnings sucked by little capitalist companies. I will urge the government to create an agency to help these youths to get what they worked for. 

That is my party's duty to help these youths.

Don't you think a new party will further divide the people and disrupt Malay unity?

It depends on which lenses you look at it from. If you look at it through a green lens, you will see a lot of green. But if you look at it through a clean and clear lens, you will see the truth.

Parties sell products. Umno sells a Malay, royalty product. PAS sells an Islamic product. PKR sells their reforms. And my party sells a struggle for the poor.

So this will not lead to a split in Malay voters. The seats I will contest are in multiracial constituencies and if there is a Parliament seat in a Malay area, then my party will support BN.

Whether it is accepted or not, it will be BN friendly and I support our government because we are confident that what we fight for can be implemented by the government.

Even though there are similarities with Pakatan Harapan, but we know (what we want) can't be fulfilled by Harapan.

So no, the matter of splitting voters doesn't arise because we are selling our product, which is not just multiracial but our (marhaenism) struggle is what we are selling.

Yes, maybe PKR members think we are splitting voters, but we are not. We are only offering to the people an alternative multiracial party besides PKR and it is up to the people and voters (to decide who to support).

Don't you see this as a mosquito party or a pengacau (disturbance)?

Pengacau in what sense? If it's dodol (a sweet sticky dessert) then you have to kacau (stir) it to make something good.

If we are giving an alternative to the people, then we're making dodol, making something good, not something that is bad for the people.

Some said that former PKR leaders may join Kuasa Rakyat. Is there any truth to that?

It is true. One of them is former Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan. Another is Nik Aziz Nik Hassan, a former candidate and Kelantan PKR leader.

We also have former candidates from Amanah, one was a three-time PAS candidate. There are also other former leaders and former parties, including from MIC and MCA.

But (Azmin Ali, Zuraida Kamaruddin) will not (be joining), and I won't poach any (current) party leaders whether it is from my friend Anwar Ibrahim's party or Bersatu.

I won't do that. If I do, it will create trouble for Ismail Sabri. Plus I trust and am confident in my team and lineup.

Elected representatives look big now because they are elected, but when Ismail Sabri dissolves Parliament they will just be at the same level as me.

Maybe in terms of political experience, thinking or analysis, I know more and am more experienced than them.

Zuraida seems big (in stature), but when Ismail Sabri dissolves Parliament, saudari Zuraida will be no different than saudara Kamarazaman.

So there is no need for me to poach any MPs.

But, I will accept any independent MPs who were not from any parties.

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