Dirty wine in a new bottle

RPK must be so disappointed with PKR that his latest post is titled:  UMNO is beginning to look better than PKR.

Looking at how the bickering inside the party,  how recent PKR  elections were run, and how Zaid,  Nurul and others were being treated , I tend to agree with him that more and more people are disgusted with the politics that are being played in PKR.

It is just like a bottle of dirty and unpalatable wine stored in a new bottle. The bottle may be new, the wine is as lousy as before, and maybe getting even worse, since the new bottle may have something that make the wine even dirtier and more unpalatable than when it was in the old bottle.

That is the scenerio today, just 2 years and a half after 308. At the time of the tsunami,  the new bottle was so so shining and the label so attractive that everyone wanted to taste it.  People did not have to think twice to cast votes for the new bottle. Moreover, the old bottle was so full of  ‘sh*t’  on its surface that it made the choice easy for the rakyat.

The warloads within PR have failed to realise  that they have not won the Federal government yet; but the way many of their members act, it is as if they are already enjoying the spoils of war and everyone is trying to fight to get a share of these.

I have written after 308, even though i am a member of Gerakan, I was glad that a 2 party sytem, however imperfect, was taking shape. I thought Malaysia would be a better place if BN loses one term. I have also advised PR parties that the main priorities for them is to rule the  states under them well, so that to win over the trust of the people, and  show that they are indeed ready to take on bigger things such as ruling Putrajaya. They have to show the people that they are not just a new bottle; the wine inside is of good grade, too.

But even before the dust has settled, internal squabblings have started and the quarrels even went public. Yes, even BN parties are not immune to internal fights and EGMs and so on, but as a party that is is projecting itself as the hope for change, PR should project a better image than BN, if it wants to not just retain its support level, but to improve on it .

But as things as going, it will not only fail to improve on its support level, but also runs the real risk of losing those who are not die-hard supporters of PR.

I have compared this to the Tai Ping Rebellion of China during the Qing dynasty (refer to my article in July 2009 here) . A rebellion full of potential to overthrow the Manchus failed because its leaders were engaged in infighting, backstabbing, and fighting for the spoils of war even before they have reached the half way mark. The bickering and plundering sealed their fate and the Manchu army was able to defeat them, even though the people of China then had no affinity at all for the Manchus.

PR must realise that out of the 82 seats it won, over 30  were won on wafer thin margin. Just a swing of a few hundreds votes would mean the end of their dreams.

It would be a real pity if Malayisa, after coming so close to a 2 party system, falters again because the party crying for change cannot deliver change.

As for gerakan, this is what RPK wrote: I think I will go join Gerakan if they promise to revamp the party and change its leaders and leave Barisan Nasional to start life anew as a Third Force for all Malaysians fed up of both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

In fact, after 308, I have known and spoken out often  that the only chance for Gerakan to survive is to change and come out of BN, and pick up the baton of nonraicsm  that was dropped when it accepted Tun Razak’s invitation to join BN as one of its founding members. Once it is out, i am sure tons of good people would join, and Gerakan could have become a real people’s movement.

Read also: A social movement as a third force