Ucapan DS Wan Azizah jadi bualan

SALAM! Ucapan DS Wan Azizah, presiden PKR, di Kongres parti itu pada 27 Nov lalu menarik perhatian ramai. DS Wan Azizah mempertahankan suaminya, DS Anwar Ibrahim, dengan kata2 berikut:

"Apa yang tidak pernah dialami oleh Sdra Anwar? Ditangkap, diISAkan,dipukul, disiksa, diaibkan dan dihumban ke dalam penjara. Sejak merdeka, tidak pernah ada tokoh negara lain yang difitnah, dihina dan disiksa secara berterusan seperti yang dialami Saudara Anwar. Namun, beliau tetap gagah dan tabah meneruskan perjuangan bersama kita. Apakah rahsia sebenar hingga beliau tetap kental sehingga ke hari ini? Jawapan saya adalah Saudara Anwar Ibrahim adalah seorang insan yang hebat yang memang dianugerahkan Tuhan untuk kita semua untuk menjadi pemimpin rakyat. Jika beliau insan biasa seperti kita, sudah lama mengundur dan tenggelam di celah segala cabaran dan gelora yang berlalu."

PKR fracas continues, gain momentum

SALAM! The ongoing fracas in PKR has caught the attention of so many people. The street protests appear to have gained momentum. The various party elections too have attracted much protests and counter protests. Last Friday, top PKR leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim decided to leave the party. His actual date of departure is set for Dec 16. I wrote about the recent goings-on in PKR in my newspaper column which appeared in the New Sunday Times Nov 21.


Zaid, Leha, – PKR not for us anymore!

LEHA is way down in the PKR food chain. For many years, this young mother held on to her hope that the party would form the next Government. Jaafar, her husband, had harboured the same hope too.

The couple has a small flat in Kondo Rakyat in Kg Kerinchi in Lembah Pantai. During the recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri and last week’s Hari Raya Aidiladha, the couple sold lemang to supplement their income.

They make excellent lemang. At RM8 per stick, it’s a good buy. But events in the PKR in last few months have made Leha and Jaafar frustrated, angry, disappointed and disillusioned. Leha has made enquiries about joining Umno, and is anxious to sign up as soon as possible.

While Leha and Jaafar are at the lower end of the PKR hierarchy, top leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is just as frustrated. He couldn’t take any more of the squabbles within the party and announced his departure on Friday.

Lawyer Zaid is not likely going to join any other party, having burned his bridges with Umno when he jumped onto the PKR bandwagon. He harbours a different ambition – that of forming his own political party.

Leha and Jaafar are not following Zaid in his new venture. Zaid, as far as the couple is concerned, is but one of the many reasons for the internal squabbles in the party. The PKR crisis shows no sign of easing off, which leaves the likes of Leha and Jaafar seething.

Leha said:”The PKR leaders are ungrateful. In the last general action, I worked liked a dog to help Nurul Izzah, Anwar’s daughter, beat then incumbent MP Datuk Seri Sharizat Abd Jalil in Lembah Pantai.

“Nurul would call me very often. If no calls, there’s always SMS. As a grassroot leader, I have my own circle of friends. With very little sleep but plenty of sweat, we helped sent Nurul Izzah to Parliament.

“Today, I hardly get calls from her. No SMS too.”

For the record, Nurul Izzah garnered 21,728 votes compared with 18,883 for Sharizat. The likes of Leha and Jaafar helped gave Nurul Izzah the 2,895-vote majority.

Leha has some very unsavoury words about her MP but I chose not to share them with everyone. Her husband was a bit more dramatic. At a press conference last week, Jaafar brought along a pair of tombstones to show everyone that they were meant for PKR’s grave when the time comes.

I later found out that the tombstones were actually meant as replacement tombstones for his late sister-in-law who died many years ago. Asked to explain why he brought out the tombstones, Jaafar said:

“Saya benci PKR. Saya dah tak tahan lagi. Cakap tak serupa bikin. Penuh dengan janji-janji manis tetapi kosong. Parti ini tiada perinsip, tiada maruah.” (I hate PKR. I can’t stand it anymore. No action, talk only. They make empty promises. They have no principles, no dignity).

Zaid, too, have had enough of the PKR squabbles. Political observers had concluded much earlier that Zaid would leave the party sooner or later for the simple reason that he won’t fit into the PKR framework.

Zaid’s entry into PKR was met with a massive drumroll and warm greetings. Many had high hopes that Zaid’s entry would strengthen the party. But as Leha, Jaafar and senior party leaders later found out – this was not to be.

Zaid was seen as a troublemaker, of trying to subvert and challenge the leadership of Anwar. Battle lines were drawn and it was only a matter of time before matters came to a boil. Zaid didn’t do all that well in PKR too, having lost to Barisan Nasional’s P Kamalanathan in the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election earlier this year.

Zaid was beaten by the friendly Kamalanathan with a majority of 1,725 votes. If PKR had hoped that Zaid would strengthen the party, this defeat was certainly not the way to go. Zaid’s critics said this was the start of Zaid’s problems in the party.

Zaid’s departure from the PKR may not be the last, at least from the top end of the hierarchy. Others may follow. At the lower end of the scale, a leader like Leha is already making their way to join Umno. This is really a testing time for members who are still in the party.

Moga2 diberkati dunia akhirat

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha kepada semua Muslimin Muslimat. Moga2 diberkati dunia akhirat. Maaf zahir batin. Pada hari yang baik ini, sama-samalah kita renungi melalui jendela hati kita akan kelakuan kita, zahir dan batin. Sama2 kita berdoa agar esok hari akan membawa perubahan yang baik atas peribadi kita.

Bikin jadi 13 Mei Hari Perpaduan

SALAM! saya terpanggil untuk menulis cadangan yang dibuat oleh beberapa kawan bahawa 13 Mei diiktiraf sebagai Hari Muhibbah. Ya, memang 13 Mei 1969 satu hari yang berdarah. Satu hari yang menjadi titik hitam untuk negara kita. Saya melaluinya. Ketika itu saya dibangku sekolah. Saya melihat sendiri perarakan politik yang bersorak di jalanan. Saya melihat sendiri kereta yang dibakar di tepi jalan. Dan saya nampak asap berkepol akibat pembakaran yang menjadi-jadi. Tetapi saya sekeluarga terselamat dari malapetaka itu. Kami tinggal di quarters yang berbilang bangsa. Semasa perintah berkurung berkuatkuasa, saya dan kawan-kawan main bola di padang. Ada Melayu, Cina, India. Kami berkawan. Maka, apabila 13 Mei dicadang supaya diwartakan sebagai Hari Muhibbah, saya sokong. Saya melaluinya.

Saya dah fed up dgn PKR...

SALAM! Pagi-pagi lagi saya dapat satu pesanan ringkas melalui talipon bimbit. Saya tak tahu macam mana si pemberi pesanan dapat nombor saya. Tetapi itu tak penting. Yang pentingnya mesej yang dihantar. Nada sms itu marah-marah dan penuh dengan kekeciwaan. Katanya: "Saya dah fed up betul dgn PKR, parti kantoi rakyat! Saya dan kawan2 lain nak blah dari parti. Takda saya yang boleh diharap. Tembelang boss2 besar dah semakin clear. Cukuplah."

Mungkin kesabaran si penghantar mesej dan kawan-kawannya sudah sampai ke tahap maksimum. Jika ditengok keliling parti itu sekarang, nampak benar bahawa ada krisis yang melanda. Pemimpin2 parti bersuara dengan lantang mengkeritik pemimpin2 lain. Nampaknya, sudah ada juga cacian dan kata mengata yang tidak mencerminkan tatasusila sebuah pertubuhan yang matang atau berwibawa. Ramai yang cajap iktu sedap mulut sahaja.

Bekas pembesar Umno, Zaid Ibrahim, pula mencadangkan supaya pemilihan PKR dibatal segera kerana banyak unsur2 penipuan dan konspirasi. Pokoknya PKR bukan sebuah parti yang kita bergantung untuk mentadbir negara. Jika pemimpin2 gagal nak kawal emosi ahli-ahli mereka, masakan parti itu boleh mentadbir negara dengan baik dan berkesan? Elok tepok dada tanya selera!

Betulkah Zaid Ibrahim tarik diri?

SALAM! Betulkah berita yang mengatakan Datuk Zaid Ibrahim buat keputusan untuk menarik diri dari pertandingan jawatan timbalan presiden PKR? Berita itu terkandung dalam satu kenyataan yang diedar kepada penulis blog dan pengarang sekitar pukul 3 pagi tadi. Kenyataan yang tidak bertandatangan itu juga menyatakan Zaid turut melepaskan apa juga jawatan yang dipegang dalam parti. Bagaimana, ia tidak menyebut samada akan kekal dalam parti atau tidak. Nada dalam kenyataan itu mencerminkan rasa keciwa dan tidak puas hati beliau dengan cara pemilihan dalam parti dibuat. Kenyataan berbahasa Inggeris itu, antara lain, menyebut:

"Over the cause of the party elections. events have shown that the leadership condones malpractices and electoral fraud to achieve its designed objectives. I am certain that any political party with such hypocritical and false values will not be able to offer meaningful reforms to the people of this country," the statement said.

Kenyataan itu, secara ringkas, bermaksud bahawa Zaid keciwa dengan proses pemilihan dalam parti. Katanya lagi, kepimpinan parti juga merelakan tindakan yang tidak sihat dalam proses pemilihan dalaman. Beliau percaya kaedah yang digunakan oeh PKR tidak akan berjaya membawa reformasi yang berkesan kepada negara ini.

Diwali; floods; Galas, Batu Sapi wins for PM

SALAM! For the folks in Kedah and Perlis, I wish the floods will go away quickly. I spent the weekend in and around Alor Star meeting volunteer friends from Yayasan Salam and the Msian Red Crescent. The flood is really bad, and I wrote about it in my newspaper column in the New Sunday Times. I'm organising the next batch of volunteers to Kedah in a few days time to help ease the burden of the flood victims. This has been a very busy week all round too. One piece of news that was quite worrying at first was the hospitalisation of PM DS Najib Razak for superficial ulcers and mild gastrities. But he's responded well to treatment and was discharged today. He should rest and return to office after he's fully recovered. But news of the victories in Galas and Batu Sapi must have been a big boost to him. Say what you may, the victories show the return of voters to the BN. The challenge is to ensure that this continues and be sustained. In between there was Deepavali. For once this year, I missed Diwali because I was out on my flood rounds. Hopefully, Dash will still have a Diwali party where we can have home-made thosai and rasem! Belated Happy Diwali greetings to all Hindu friends.