"Exploding" Pakatan "Imploding" Barisan

A Kadir Jasin

WHILE the Barisan Nasional (BN), with the help of the mainstream media, is instigating the disintegration of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the grand old coalition itself is in danger of an implosion.

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With Umno, the dominant partner of the 13-party coalition, is in a state of near paralysis due to lack of leadership, member parties are going their separate ways and imploding.

MIC crisis: BN parties striking out on their own

Look at the above picture of the squabbling MIC members. Weak BN leadership is encouraging component parties to go their own ways. In the MIC, the challenge against the lightweight President G. Palanivel started from the early days he succeeded the autocratic but hugely popular (Tan Sri) S Samy Vellu in December 2010.

With the BN Chairman (Datuk Seri) Mohd Najib Abdul Razak himself facing growing discontent within his own party, he does not appear to be able to lend a helping hand, not only to the squabbling Indian party, but to others in the BN.

Despite being the smallest of the original Alliance/BN parties, MIC is important to the grand old coalition because the Indians generally support the BN. With the Chinese-based MCA and Gerakan having been rejected by the Chinese, continuous Indian support is crucial. But a weak MIC could drive away BN’s Indian votes.

Instead of fighting the real foes – the PR – the Umno psychological warfare machinery went Don Quixotic and fought the windmill, believing that party critics like (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad and (Tun) Daim Zainuddin are the enemies.

They committed the ultimate misstep by enlisting Opposition Leader (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim and his PKR cohorts to attack Daim on prime time TV and in the Umno-controlled newpapers.

After failing to split PR over the Selangor Menteri Besar crisis last year, they now co-opt the PKR “general leader” (Ketua Umum) as their spokesman on corruption.

But after Daim issued a press statement saying that he knew who was behind the campaign, the hyenas ran helter-skelter, and some of them may be made the scapegoats to safe the boss and his powerful messenger.

Mohd Najib should be less gullible and spend more time running the country and party. He should by now realise that not everybody in his payroll are as good as they promoted themselves to be.

He should stop following his daydreaming Don Quixote's on their silly missions fighting the windmills.

Be mindful of Don Quixote in the Umno media

The Sarawak Factor

Another sign of the BN parties striking out on their own is clearly visible Sarawak, a key state for the ruling coalition.

There the state-based BN parties are exerting their influence ahead of the state legislative assembly election, which has to be held before June next year.

The state government is surreptitiously flexing its muscle over immigration by barring many Peninsula residents from entering the state. Even civil servants and GLC employers are subjected to closer scrutiny now before being allowed entry.

The supposedly weak and amiable (Tan Sri) Adenan Satem is proving to be more decisive than his predecessor (Tun) Taib Mahmud in some key areas like corruption and abuse of power.

If the state BN fails to roll back the PR advance as seen during the 2011 state election and the 2013 general election, the BN could end up losing more seats in future polls in the state.

As for the explosion in the PR that the BN is trying hard to instigate, the answer rests neither with the BN nor the existing PR leadership.

The future of the opposition alliance rests with its younger and more idealistic leaders, and their youthful supporters.

The PR is likely to do better in attracting young voters and fence sitters if it can wean itself from the existing leadership which is built around old-timers like Anwar, Lim Kit Siang and Abdul Hadi Awang.

As I told two members of PAS supreme council a couple of weeks ago, if they are serious about taking over the country, all the three PR parties must stop petty squabbles and put forward the best in brain and policies.

They should not base their optimism purely on the perceived weakness of the BN. Umno and the BN still have time to improve if leadership reshuffle takes in the near future.

I told them that if ever they win, they can choose to banish Mohd Najib and his merry men (and women) to the mythical Laut Kalzum (Kalzum Sea) to be devoured by the Garuda, but 1MDB will not disappear. The debt-laden sovereign fund will become their problem. So are other issues the country is now facing.

Earlier, I told a DAP MP from Johor that we are all in a big steamy stadium with angry supports at each other’s throat. We must know how to control the crowd, locate the emergency exits and avoid a stampede. If we are not willing to compromise, we may be trampled to death.

And the end of the day, it’s not about politics but about the country.

And to the two Umno’s pembesar – one a minister and the other a state executive councillor - who were gracious and “brave” enough to join blogger Apanama and I last night, let me repeat what I say – the future of Umno, the Malays and Islam is far more important than the future of any one person in Umno.

Just in case Mr Don Quixote is curious, we were not conspiring. Just that we happened to bump into each other at the mamak shop.

Wallahuaklam.