YOURSAY | ‘Public service takes a lot of work, diligence, commitment, and care.’ 

Nurul Izzah, Rafizi must take bold steps to rejuvenate PKR - MP

IndigoTrout2522: PKR veteran Hassan Abdul Karim is partially right. It takes more than one strategy to keep Pakatan Harapan in power. 

The unity government must succeed in strengthening the economy, increasing job opportunities and employment, controlling inflation, and keeping the cost of living low, especially focusing on domestic policies.

The government must also continue with judiciary and institutional reforms, including fair proportional seat alignment of Parliament and state seats.

They must move to more meritorious and less on race-and-religious-based politics, policies, and education. They must handle this carefully and judiciously without attracting unwarranted political attack from PAS. 

Each MP, state, and party official must genuinely and sincerely go to the ground and truly serve the needs of the people. 

Anwar must have an efficient and professional cabinet, holding them high on performance.

Last but not least, communicate clearly and effectively to the people in clear, simple language what the government is doing and accomplishing and why. 

Yes, it takes a lot of work, diligence, commitment, and care to do public service.

Another important strategy is discipline. 

Harapan leaders are also too loose in making unwarranted and unnecessary but damaging statements in public, all this in the name of democracy and freedom of speech. 

Recent examples are those from DAP and PKR past and current leaders, including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Keep their conversations private and within the confines of their meeting rooms. 

The rakyat are smart and when they see positive changes in government, they will respond.

The government is not expected to change overnight, but there must be substantial change.

The people can feel and perceive that this government is different, and they see hope, inspiration and better days now and ahead, they will support the parties in power. 

Sarawak and Sabah will continue to support the government.

So, Anwar should focus on these positive strategies, be genuine and let the voters decide in the next general election.

Nevertheless, there will always be naysayers who spend their time in negative criticism. 

Welcome to a prosperous Malaysia 2024! Better days are ahead.

Apa pun boleh: PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar has been a reluctant politician for quite a while now, and it was duly reflected in her “mother of all losses” in her family fortress of Permatang Pauh. It was a shame.

Even if she bounces back, the way the late Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto once did, it will be a long shot by any stretch of the imagination.

It would be a non-starter to rely on her to lead Harapan's challenge the mighty Perikatan Nasional in GE16.

It would be wiser to let sleeping dogs lie.  

As far as PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli and PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad are concerned, let us not be fooled into comparing apples with oranges.

Neither of them is in the class of the late Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub, noted for his astounding political maturity.

Both Rafizi and Nik Nazmi will be like square pegs in round holes in the current 2R extremist political landscape in the northern Malay heartland.

The pair will be swallowed alive, losing their deposits.  

Malay politics is not what it was in the Umno/BN era and this is proven by Umno’s Waterloo in the 14th general election and its pathetic performance (washout) in the 15th general election.

It has sunk to its lowest ebb in recent times.  

As far as PKR is concerned, it seems almost impossible for PKR to fill the space vacated by Umno and penetrate the Bersatu/PAS barricade in the north.

It is also unable to check PN's intrusion into suburban Harapan strongholds, like what happened in the recent state elections.  

The foundation of Malay political pragmatism is fast changing into political extremism led by right-wing political desperados out to seize power at any cost.

Anwar seems of little help in checkmating this 2R extremism that is destroying the country right before our eyes.

His strategy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds takes us further down the abyss.

Anwar placating the extremists by holding back reforms merely seems to provide the space and hasten the process of destruction by those bent on their destructive ways for political power.

PN is slowly eating up some of the Malay bases who had supported PKR and the latter is doing everything to wrest back their support base among Malay voters.  

Some PKR voters have found out they had been taken for a ride by the so-called reformist.  

Most of the people I converse with felt disappointed.

Some plan not to vote and some even plan to send a protest vote against Harapan because they felt cheated.

I do not know how Harapan is going to take back its support base in the next four years. Remember, almost 15 state seats in Negeri Sembilan were won with marginal votes.  

Selangor too may not be safe in the future.

LETDOWN 2018: This must be the first joke of 2024, and it is not even April 1 yet.

Besides conversing well in English, Nurul Izzah has not shown much substance but has been riding on voters’ sympathy for his father.

The Anwar family stronghold had enough of her inaction and absence. As for Rafizi, more of an entertaining storyteller and know-everything theorist.

Not much difference from a stand-up comedian. If this is what PKR has to offer, then good luck to them.

Pink: Rafizi, Nik Nazmi, and Nurul Izzah will be massacred if they stand for election in  Terengganu, Kelantan, and Kedah respectively.

In the case of Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, they are happy to talk big from their safe bunkers.

Please do not compare them to the saintly late Sallehuddin Ayub.

They are not even in the same class as PKR veteran Hassan Abdul Karim himself, who was not afraid to fight in the Umno bastion of Pasir Gudang.

But who knows? If Anwar could turn the economy around, they could win in their respective states.

But that is highly unlikely with the incompetent and hypocritical cabinet that we have now.

Justmyview: It’s not just the personalities that will ensure PKR’s future viability.

First, the “reformasi” war cry is outdated and has become irrelevant.

Focus on the economy and equitable treatment of all Malaysians.

If the economy booms, the Malays will benefit the most because they form the majority race in this country.

The equitable treatment of all Malaysians will earn the continued support of the non-Malays as they are loyal Malaysians and have been contributing to the wellbeing of Malaysia.

Secondly, PKR should not be complacent and should seriously make inroads into the Malay heartland with the appointment of local leaders instead of relying on urbanised college and university leaders to lead the charge.

Thirdly, while popular personalities like Nurul Izzah and Rafizi are beneficial to maintaining support for the party, in the longer term, PKR should build a new team of leaders so that the party has more than a small core of leadership talents.

Just always focusing on a few prominent leaders may discourage others who may even have more to offer from entering the PKR political arena because they may feel that there is no more room or no tickets available to join the upper tier of the party’s decision-making process.

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