Saifuddin: Reforms to be realised through policies, not number of roles

The mandate of reforms must be realised through policies and programmes for the people, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today.

Saifuddin reminded delegates that PKR’s success in reforms must not be measured through the number of roles held by its party members.

“The success of reform, be it in our eyes or in the eyes of the people, will be measured by our success in translating it into benefitting the people.

“It’s not through how many ministers, or menteris besar, excos, MPs, or assemblypersons.

“That is not the measurement of our success,” he asserted during his speech at PKR’s 25th anniversary special convention held at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), Shah Alam today.

Over 5,000 delegates have gathered at the convention to celebrate the party’s silver jubilee.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also PKR president, is scheduled to deliver his speech before the special convention concludes.

Cautionary tales

Further, Saifuddin, who is also home minister, reminded delegates to learn from past experiences of failed reform movements in other countries as its leaders ignored their reform ideals after taking over office.

Citing past failed reform movements in Africa and Europe, he said leaders in those nations left behind their aspirations when they started to “collect wealth” for their personal gain.

“When they were in opposition, they were suffering, when they became the government and enjoyed the perks (of being the government), they forgot the basic principles of their struggle.

“Instead, they collected wealth - which did not bring success to the reform struggle,” he added.

This comes after strong criticism from PKR supporters that the pace of reforms was slow and there had been no noticeable improvements and progress.

Optimist Anwar

Meanwhile, Saifuddin complimented Anwar for being an optimistic and encouraging leader, even when the party suffered an abysmal performance during the 2004 general election.

Saifuddin recollected that the party only won a single seat during the polls, with former party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail securing Permatang Pauh.

Despite the defeat, Saifuddin said Anwar - who was behind bars at that time - still wrote a letter congratulating PKR for its “outstanding performance”.

“He (Anwar) asked party members to remain calm. He also instructed me to collect information about the party’s strengths and weaknesses for future preparation,” he said.

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