Only people power can save democracy, says PSM’s Arutchelvan.
KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) fears that Barisan Nasional (BN) will resist giving up power even if it loses the next general election.
“No way will BN respect the election result if it is against them,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with FMT.
In such a scenario, he added, it would be up to the masses to ensure the survival of democracy.
“The next general election will not be smooth,” he said. “So we need to empower the people so that they will stand guard to protect any democratically elected government.”
Arutchelvan said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak might use his influence with the armed forces to keep Putrajaya for Umno. “We must remember that we will be dealing with Najib, who was defence minister for many years before becoming the premier.”
For that reason, he said, it was urgent for Pakatan Rakyat to empower the people. It was its failure to do so that rendered it helpless in the face of the BN coup in Perak in 2009, he added.
“People turned up on the streets to demand that the democratically elected government be restored, but the numbers were not large enough. Pakatan had not built that strength among the people.”
Arutchelvan gave an example of how the masses could be empowered. In Semenyih, where he is a municipal councillor, there was a housing area that needed a street light. “I told the residents who complained to get signatures from all their neighbours and send a petition to the local council. When the street light was put up, I reminded them that it was their effort that made it happen.”
Grassroots work
Giving another example, he said the Selangor government could have settled its dispute with the Public Services Commission last year by calling for a referendum on Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s suitability as state secretary instead of allowing itself to be forced to accept him.
“If (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez was menteri besar of Selangor, he would have called for a referendum in the state to decide on Khusrin’s fate. That is how Pakatan should involve the people in the decision-making process.”
On PSM’s preparations for the coming general election, he said the party’s focus was to ensure Pakatan’s victory over BN. The party is not a member of Pakatan, but Arutchelvan said it would continue to work closely with the alliance. It would negotiate for seats to contest.
“We are only eyeing 10 seats or less,” he said. “We prefer to focus on areas where we have done substantial grassroots work.
“However, all our candidates will have to go through a vetting process. The community they are serving must endorse their candidacy. We have also stipulated that any PSM member wanting to contest in elections must have done a minimum of five years of grassroots work in the area they plan to contest.”
He said the election would see some three-cornered fights. “Parties like Kita and the Human Rights Party will be contesting as well.”
Arutchelvan offered an advice to election hopefuls: they will not get their victory on a silver platter because the result of the 2008 general election has given voters a taste of their own power.
Politicians from both sides of the political divide were now trying their best to please the masses for their own survival, he noted.
“It’s a good scenario for the people,” he said with a smile. “Politicians are doing extra work now out of fear they may lose their seats the next time around. For example, I have seen 10 MIC fellows working just to get one person’s MyKad done.”
Sex video scandal
He also called upon the masses to see beyond personalities and focus on what he called “real issues”.
“For some reason, issues like rising costs of food, education and healthcare do not capture mainstream politics.
“We are more concerned over Anwar (Ibrahim), Najib and Rosmah (Mansor). We have also become a society that tolerates corruption and think every problem in Malaysia is somehow racially motivated.”
But he acknowledged that there had been some changes in the Malaysian mindset, especially among youths.
“And change will come when youths get involved. The revolution that ousted dictators in Egypt and Tunisia were spearheaded by youths. They will decide the future.”
Arutchelvan also had some comments about the controversy surrounding the pornographic video being used in BN circles to portray Anwar as a sex fiend.
According to him, Anwar is an obvious target of BN attacks because he is the “unifying persona” for the opposition.
“Anwar is the key figure who is holding the opposition pact together. The pact may have problems finding another of his calibre to lead them. That is why BN is trying to finish him off by throwing severe accusations at him.”
He said it was good that Anwar still had Muslim friends who feel nothing but disdain about the accusations.
“But the concern is it may affect the rural voters’ perception of Anwar as the mainstream media is playing the issue to the hilt.
“That is why we should get the people to be involved in politics.”
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