KUALA LUMPUR: The cracks appearing in the Pakatan Rakyat especially among its Indian leadership in Selangor are symptoms of a larger malaise in the opposition coalition that can no longer be ignored.
It also comes at a time when the PR is facing the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-election where although Indian voters number only about 500, the damage to the PR image would have an adverse impact.
At the heart of the widening crisis is deep dissatisfaction among Indians, who woke up massively after a long slumber with the Nov 25 Hindraf protests last year, and despite wholehearted support, many do not feel they have benefited much from the Pakatan Rakyat victory.
The dissatisfaction is keenly felt by Indian leaders in the PR alliance, especially in PKR and DAP.
Many of these leaders are not rank and file party members but former Indian NGO activists who had opposed UMNO/BN domination, and subsequently joined the PKR or DAP and were fielded as candidates in the March 8 general election.
PKR's Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam is a classic example – a person who graduated from street activism to PKR youth leadership and finally into parliament.
Other NGO activists like Charles Santiago joined the DAP. Some others like Padang Serai MP M. Gobalakrishnan are ex-MIC.
What they have in common is years of activism behind them, both in NGOs and during the reformasi period when PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was jailed.
But now they are faced with ex-Umno people like Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as their boss and are being told to shut up, toe the party line and keep quiet.
It is the kind of subservient politics that had damaged BN component parties like the MIC, PPP and Gerakan – to keep quiet, toe the BN line, and put party interest over community interest.
Political experts say the crisis in the Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor is really a clash between the old "Malay dominance" politics that has persisted and deep dissatisfaction among minority Indians that they have been sidelined despite ensuring a big win for the opposition on March 8.
"It is a majority minority conflict for the promised fairer re-distribution of resources...a promise not kept," said Dr denison Jayasooria, a Suhakam commissioner who previously headed a MIC think-tank.
Although the BN was defeated and the Pakatan Rakyat took power and although political positions were distributed in a reasonably fair manner, Jayasooria says the old mode of "Malay dominance" politics persist.
"Beyond symbolic gestures like making Ramasamy deputy chief minister (Penang deputy CM Prof Dr P. Ramasamy) and giving the Speakers post in Perak to an Indian, the larger Indian community as a whole has not benefited from the March 8 victory," he said.
"The issues of poverty, employment, scholarships and minimum wages - all issues close to minorities that were raised by MPs like Manikavasagam during the election campaign, remain unfulfilled," he said.
Despite the rise of the Pakatan Rakyat, he said, the old political mode which saw Umno domination preventing minority access to services, as well as issues related to land and local authorities remain.
It is an issue of political idealogy that permeates national politics, the civil service, media, the universities and is the dominant political culture of the country.
A mere change of government does not mean an immediate change in the dominant political culture, Dr Denison argued in explaining why there are persistent disputes between minorities and the majority in the Pakatan Rakyat ruled state governments.
While PR political leaders are able to meet and iron out differences as they crop up, the frustration felt at the local level is keen and not easily resolved.
"We had expected better, we deserve better. But what we got is only marginally better than what the BN gave us," said T. Kannan, a senior DAP member, giving voice to Indian frustration with PKR in Selangor, a state which is home to 700,000 Indians, most of them living below the new income poverty line of RM1,500 a month.
"There is a lot of frustration in the Indian community that despite total mobilization for the opposition, the returns were negligible," he said. "They had high expectations, but they still struggle to make ends meet."
"So naturally they demand to know why they have been sidelined," he said.
The crisis needs resolution and the only solution, PR Indian leaders say, is an equitable power relationship between the dominant Malay agenda and minority components of Pakatan Rakyat.
But it is easier said than done because there is a wide gap between minority and majority in the power distribution in the new set up as it was also in the old political order.
"Manikavasagam is a deputy PKR leader in Selangor but he complains he has no access to the Mentri Besar," Jayasooria said.
"Access is fundamental but Manikavasagam could not get access to his boss in his own party."
"This shows that although he is reasonably high up in the party, he is treated as an outsider," Jayasooria said.
"The dynamics of Malay dominance versus minority resistance is the same, the issues are the same. Only the players have changed. The name has changed but the game is the same," he said.
Baradan Kuppusamy
The Malaysian Insider
01/01/09
It also comes at a time when the PR is facing the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-election where although Indian voters number only about 500, the damage to the PR image would have an adverse impact.
At the heart of the widening crisis is deep dissatisfaction among Indians, who woke up massively after a long slumber with the Nov 25 Hindraf protests last year, and despite wholehearted support, many do not feel they have benefited much from the Pakatan Rakyat victory.
The dissatisfaction is keenly felt by Indian leaders in the PR alliance, especially in PKR and DAP.
Many of these leaders are not rank and file party members but former Indian NGO activists who had opposed UMNO/BN domination, and subsequently joined the PKR or DAP and were fielded as candidates in the March 8 general election.
PKR's Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam is a classic example – a person who graduated from street activism to PKR youth leadership and finally into parliament.
Other NGO activists like Charles Santiago joined the DAP. Some others like Padang Serai MP M. Gobalakrishnan are ex-MIC.
What they have in common is years of activism behind them, both in NGOs and during the reformasi period when PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was jailed.
But now they are faced with ex-Umno people like Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as their boss and are being told to shut up, toe the party line and keep quiet.
It is the kind of subservient politics that had damaged BN component parties like the MIC, PPP and Gerakan – to keep quiet, toe the BN line, and put party interest over community interest.
Political experts say the crisis in the Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor is really a clash between the old "Malay dominance" politics that has persisted and deep dissatisfaction among minority Indians that they have been sidelined despite ensuring a big win for the opposition on March 8.
"It is a majority minority conflict for the promised fairer re-distribution of resources...a promise not kept," said Dr denison Jayasooria, a Suhakam commissioner who previously headed a MIC think-tank.
Although the BN was defeated and the Pakatan Rakyat took power and although political positions were distributed in a reasonably fair manner, Jayasooria says the old mode of "Malay dominance" politics persist.
"Beyond symbolic gestures like making Ramasamy deputy chief minister (Penang deputy CM Prof Dr P. Ramasamy) and giving the Speakers post in Perak to an Indian, the larger Indian community as a whole has not benefited from the March 8 victory," he said.
"The issues of poverty, employment, scholarships and minimum wages - all issues close to minorities that were raised by MPs like Manikavasagam during the election campaign, remain unfulfilled," he said.
Despite the rise of the Pakatan Rakyat, he said, the old political mode which saw Umno domination preventing minority access to services, as well as issues related to land and local authorities remain.
It is an issue of political idealogy that permeates national politics, the civil service, media, the universities and is the dominant political culture of the country.
A mere change of government does not mean an immediate change in the dominant political culture, Dr Denison argued in explaining why there are persistent disputes between minorities and the majority in the Pakatan Rakyat ruled state governments.
While PR political leaders are able to meet and iron out differences as they crop up, the frustration felt at the local level is keen and not easily resolved.
"We had expected better, we deserve better. But what we got is only marginally better than what the BN gave us," said T. Kannan, a senior DAP member, giving voice to Indian frustration with PKR in Selangor, a state which is home to 700,000 Indians, most of them living below the new income poverty line of RM1,500 a month.
"There is a lot of frustration in the Indian community that despite total mobilization for the opposition, the returns were negligible," he said. "They had high expectations, but they still struggle to make ends meet."
"So naturally they demand to know why they have been sidelined," he said.
The crisis needs resolution and the only solution, PR Indian leaders say, is an equitable power relationship between the dominant Malay agenda and minority components of Pakatan Rakyat.
But it is easier said than done because there is a wide gap between minority and majority in the power distribution in the new set up as it was also in the old political order.
"Manikavasagam is a deputy PKR leader in Selangor but he complains he has no access to the Mentri Besar," Jayasooria said.
"Access is fundamental but Manikavasagam could not get access to his boss in his own party."
"This shows that although he is reasonably high up in the party, he is treated as an outsider," Jayasooria said.
"The dynamics of Malay dominance versus minority resistance is the same, the issues are the same. Only the players have changed. The name has changed but the game is the same," he said.
Baradan Kuppusamy
The Malaysian Insider
01/01/09
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