of pairin and sabah issues

after months in "elegance silence", the huguan siou pairin kitingan has finally spoken up. in a report carried by the daily express (21 october 2008) pairin "revealed" that it was mahathir who had bullied the pbs when the former was still a prime minister. pairin was responding to the speech delivered by mca former president ong ka ting who took the umno leaders to task by saying that the malay-based party has become too dominant and thus causing uneasiness among the bn members. pairin's statement came as no surprise to anyone who understands sabah politics. and it is no secret that mahathir had indeed treated sabah with an iron fist especially when the state was under pairin's pbs control. the question is, why did pairin suddenly come out in the open and launch such an attack on mahathir? of course pairin and mahathir have had love and hate relationship. when pairin decided to abandone the bn in 1991 just at the eleventh hour before nomination, mahathir swore not to forgive pairin or admit the pbs into bn. mahathir called pairin's act as a "stab in the back". a stab in the back it was indeed as before pbs's pull out, pairin and mahathir were seen campaigning together for the bn.

so what might have driven pairin to suddenly "spar" with mahathir, his former foe? in order to answer this question perhaps it is best for us to gauge the perception of the man-in-the-street about pairin's leadership. while having a lunch with a friend yesterday, i asked what he thinks about pairin now. his answer was plain simple: pairin is not as what he used to be before; he has lost his credibility as he prefers kowtowing to his political masters rather than speaking up for a number of issues critical for sabah. another friend told me that he was leaving pbs simply because the party has lost its grassroots appeal and that its leaders are no longer respected. another friend took a drastic move. he was supposed to join pbs but changed his mind to join the opposition.

pairin may have realised that being critical at this juncture will not be wise for pbs that had had the experience of being deserted from the mainstream malaysian politics. he may have thought that it is better to support the government this time. it may not be a wise move to critic pak lah and his government as this would eventually put pbs in a bad light among the bn members in sabah. pairin and his key followers are clearly enjoying the partnership formed with musa and sabah umno. no one knows yet what pbs' real agenda is. much of the critical views on sabah now conveyed either by sapp or upko. the sapp is no longer in bn and upko has been rather cautious about its membership status. dompok recently threatened to pull out from bn if the pipeline gas project from sabah to bintulu in sarawak is not scrapped. fortunately, the federal government listened and sabah got a petrochemical industry instead. such is the political bargaining now being played out by state and federal leaders. of course, the federal government cannot afford to lose sabah particularly after the state became a strong power broker in the previous elections.

change may not be forthcoming in sabah just yet. the opposition led by pkr seems to be silent if not mellowed down a bit. if change was to happen in sabah, it must begin from the individual sabahans themselves followed by the leaders whom they elected in the elections. the opposition needs to really work hard to prove that they can become a better alternative to the present government. the bn in the meantime must wake up from its slumber and start fulfilling its election promises. i must admit that i voted for the bn in the previous elections and i hope the bn would live up to my expectation failing which will cause it to lose my precious vote in the next election.

how will i remember pak lah and what najib should do to be a better prime minister

pak lah has finally made a decision to quit as prime minister in march next year. for many malaysians, this came as no surprise as calls for his resignation grew loud and clear right before the announcement was made. when pak lah took over the government in 2004, expectation was high that he would change the course of malaysian politics marred by incompetence of the civil service, high level of corruption and the deeply ethnicised malaysian society. perhaps, pak lah only managed to catch the small fish but not the big ones as many have complained. the arrests of several high profile public figures failed to ease the demands for pak lah to do something fundamentally drastic to end corrupt practices. pak lah did manage to allow some democratic spaces for malaysian to enjoy but his refusal to put to an end the use of several repressive laws made him look like unwilling to seriously address changes that many malaysians want to see.

despite all the criticims to his leadership, i think pak lah deserves some respect for his courage in admitting his mistakes and his willingness to bring reforms to malaysia. one of the most important marks that he has left and one which he will be best remembered for is his effort in ensuring the more open malaysia: blogs critical to his leadership are allowed to operate (except those that are truly radical ones); newspapers reports condemning his leadership weaknesses are not outrightly dismissed; and we, the malaysians, are given the avenues to express our dissatisfaction on a number of critical issues. pak lah listened. had he decided to let his ego reigns, he would pretend to not knowing what is happening around him and he would use whatever ways and means (including the wicked ones) to hold on to power. but he did not. he was willing to step aside and pass on the baton to his controversial number two najib razak. or maybe this is just pak lah's political game as many have suggested. i personally do not know. i hope pak lah is sincere.

now that najib will be given the top job come march next year. others are still not convinced that the deputy premier are free from all the scandals implicating his name. here is what najib should do to be a better prime minister: a) clear up his name and use the approriate laws to convict those who are out to destroy his reputation (he should not just simply use the isa to shut their mouths up); b) continue all the reform promises made by pak lah; c) bring back the confidence of the chinese, indians and minorities that malaysia is for all irrespective race and religion; d) revive the economy so that it can be more resilient to challenges such as the current economic meltdown in the us; and e) perhaps the most important is not to let mahathir influence his mind.

i am skeptical that pak lah will be successful in initiating some changes he promised to make in his remaining five months in office. perhaps what pak lah must do is to put back his reform agenda in proper perspective and start looking for trustworthy talents to execute the plan. to najib, i wish him all the best in bringing malaysia to greater heights and to pak lah thank you for all the good things that you have done.