Pakatan Rakyat must check self-interest in its move towards nation-building.
We have seen in many countries where dictators were overthrown and killed and the power returned to the people.
The bottom line is this – it is not worth a penny to deceive your own people and country.
It is a virtue and an honour to serve your own countrymen; and a vice and sin to serve your own lusts.
Pakatan Rakyat’s reponsibilities are two-fold: to provide the rakyat with an alternative national leadership, and to prepare for the task of nation-building.
Alternative leadership
The opposition parties, though they are currently not the government, have an important role in nation-building, too.
How important depends on how serious are the violations against the people’s rights and the deprivation of the nation’s needs committed by the ruling party.
The opposition has a heavy responsibility to ensure that national interests are not continuously abused and sacrificed for the benefits of the few in high government positions. They must put a stop to these wrongdoings .
These then form the main political challenges for the opposition parties in Malaysia. However, the opposition cannot provide alternative leadership unless the current government is pulled down in the next election.
Like other desperate regimes, the Najib government is holding out with the last defensive mechanism against the onslaught of the opposition.
He will use all kinds of strategies to ward off the attacks of the opposition and to respond to the people’s threats by launching a psy-war such as offering all sorts of goodies and make-believe schemes to win back the confidence of the people.
Though the Najib government is under severe attack from all corners, he still has many offensive and defensive power buttons at his disposal.
Hence, Pakatan’s strategy is to identify and break up Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s strategy through a detailed multi-dimensional approach to each of the offensive and defensive ploy.
Nation-building for Pakatan
True national leaders will give priority to the nation’s interests first over their personal needs. The challenges then will be the ability of the leaders to move the nation forward in all fields.
Leaders who give such priority as a rule will likely perform better and be able to move the nation forward.
Such a policy and stand will likely lead to a positive outcome when national and people’s interests take centrestage.
The challenge of nation-building can be met as long as self-interests are checked.
In Western countries, leaders come and go without complications and conditions. They serve when needed and leave if their services are no more required.
They do not unnecessarily overstay or worse, refuse to give way and establish their personal control over the government.
Thus in Western countries where leaders are politically mature, there is no need for undemocratic measures, conspiracy plans, deceptions and psychological warfare, money politics and the likes in order to retain power for self-interests.
These are the hallmarks of Umno’s successive governments which Pakatan should not pick up but reject completely.
New approach needed
We believe that team-cum-collective leadership under the new Pakatan can carry out the task of nation-building successfully.
These will involve many steps, namely Pakatan abandoning the sole leadership approach and adopting the team or collective leadership stance to be led by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
This approach will move the coalition forward and widen its membership to other minority parties.
Bersih, the nucleus of people’s power, can be turned into a full-fledged people’s power to help Pakatan move forward.
With such a framework of reference, Pakatan can draw a battle plan for the 13th general election.
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