The UMNO elections are in the limelight these days putting the other political stories in the background. But the Pakatan parties are in the news for the wrong reasons.
In Selangor, the MB from PKR appointed a Chinese as acting head of PKNS and PAS is making a big issue out of it. In Penang the DAP led government started including Chinese characters in names of roads and many Malays are not happy. In Kedah, the PAS led government announced that the Bumiputra quotas for some housing schemes are increased to 50% and many non Bumis are disappointed.
As can be seen all the issues are race related and we thought the Pakatan Rakyat "coalition" is free from race-based policies. However, what is more worrying is the fact that the Pakatan coalition seemed to be working on their own without any consultation among them though they are supposed to be in a coalition.
I'm disappointed with PAS in Selangor especially its head, Dr. Hassan Ali, who I know personally. For him to question the appointment of the head of PKNS just because she is Chinese is not the Hassan Ali I knew. What is wrong with having a Chinese as head even if the objective of the company is to help the Malays? After all, Malays have headed the corporation all these years and they have failed their own race. Wouldn't it be good for the country, in fact for everybody, if we can get a Chinese to help the Malays for a change? But no. Now even PAS wants to champion "Ketuanan Melayu".
I'm also disappointed with DAP in Penang. What is the necessity to have names of roads in Chinese characters? Just to show that they care for the Chinese language I guess. I had hoped that the current DAP leaders are more mature in their deeds. It maybe asking too much for DAP to fight for promoting only Malay as the national language but changing road signs to me is petty and cheap.
It looks like the Pakatan is far from a real coalition. Maybe it is not time for them to take over the federal government just yet.
2 comments:
Hussin,
The lack of cohesion among the PR is due to poor leadership and the loose coalition which isn't binding among them.
UMNO should capitalize on this weakness by reinventing itself through a change of leaderships who are clean and untainted. The current crop of UMNO leaders doesn't appeal to most Malaysians.
Sdra Zawi,
Frankly, I don't think UMNO can reinvent itself any time soon. After their worst election performance, many veterans are still fighting to be one of the 3 Vice Presidents. I thought they should give the "younger" leaders a chance to lead. Worse still, politics of patronage is still widely accepted. If only the Pakatan parties are ready...
Post a Comment