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The theme Harapan Baru or New Hope has energised the party rank and file and raised hopes that one day, if everything comes together, they may even rule the country. Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star
AFTER nine years battling in the political wilderness and against great odds, PKR finally hit pay dirt on March 8. Its congress this weekend will be a celebration of that sterling success – a gathering of nearly 3,000 delegates from across the country and witnessed by allies in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition and from abroad. The theme Harapan Baru or New Hope has energised the party rank and file and raised hopes that one day, if everything comes together, they may even rule the country. It is sweet success for the party coming from near extinction to win 31 seats in Parliament, outperforming PAS and DAP. With such a commanding number, PKR, being multi-ethnic, enjoys a commanding presence and dominates Parliament, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition and the opposition-ruled states. Despite these successes, the national standing of the undisputed leader of PKR and the Opposition Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took a hit following the failure to topple the Government by the Sept 16 deadline. That and the sharp drop in fuel prices and the firmness of the Umno succession from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, has taken the sting out of Anwar’s campaign to convince the people that the country was better off with him (Anwar) as the Prime Minister. The Anwar-led Opposition has also failed to table and carry through a vote of no-confidence against Abdullah in Parliament. They still have until about mid-December to carry out the promise although curiously, no opposition MP is talking about it any more. Taken together, these developments mean that politics is taking a back seat and with that Anwar’s overarching influence over national politics is beginning to wane when compared to the feverish expectations gripping the country in the run-up to Sept 16. The excitement generated by the Umno elections aside, the dominant issue now is the economy and how we are going to survive the contagion effect of a global recession. Already hundreds and thousands of people are losing their jobs across the United States and Europe and in a matter of months we will feel the heat, economists have warned. In PKR too, politics is taking a back seat to economic concerns. “The national economy, jobs, business. These are key issues and our congress this week will reflect these concerns,” said party information chief Tian Chua. He agreed that politics would take a back seat, saying that the spotlight was on how the Barisan Nasional government would resolve the effects of the global economy crisis. “We have offered the people an alternative Budget and an alternative economic survival plan that we feel are better suited for the country,” he added. Nevertheless, politics would remain a dominant theme at the congress, party officials said, adding Anwar was expected to speak at length about the failure of Sept 16. But he would raise spirits by confirming that his plans to topple the Government through defections were not dead but just delayed, a PKR supreme council member said. He would also touch on the failure to engineer defections in Sabah. Although Anwar has strong links in Sabah from the time he was Umno deputy president, he has thus far failed to spark defections there. The state is ripe with issues to exploit, ranging from oil royalty to the construction of the Kimanis gas pipeline and the presence of illegal immigrants. Nevertheless, PKR finds the going in Sabah tough, probably because Sabah’s leadership is fractured by infighting. Anwar sees better success in Sarawak with the Nov 15 crossover of Ngemah assemblyman Gabriel Adit Demong with 12,000 followers to PKR at a dinner in Sibu. The dinner in the Dayak heartland in the Rejang Valley basin was attended by about 4,000 people, historically a big turnout for Sibu and politically significant. If properly exploited, political experts say, Dayak ethno-nationalism could emerge as an explosive political force on the side of the Opposition as had happened with Indians through the Hindraf movement. “It’s is in your hands,” Anwar told the Dayaks at the function. “When Sarawak changes its course, the Barisan government will collapse.” The battle for Sarawak, however, is still a long way off and easily said than won. Closer to home is a greater challenge for Anwar – the steady rise of Najib, despite setbacks, as the new national leader. If the March 2009 Umno succession plan is consummated, Najib will be the next Prime Minister, a development that is a blow to Anwar’s ambition to be prime minister. While his personal ambitions may be thwarted, Anwar nevertheless heads a three-party national coalition which rules five of the big states and offers a viable alternative to the Barisan, something that will keep Najib and the Barisan constantly on their toes.
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