COMMENT The recent ongoing tussles in PKR have all but tarnished the party's reputation. Firstly, the 12 Sabah leaders who are aligned to Jeffrey Kitingan were all hauled up by the disciplinary board and some punished for their attempt a year ago to form a new party, although there was a peace deal between them and the other PKR leaders.
Then right after “the just decision” was made by the disciplinary committee, an alleged smear campaign against Zaid Ibrahim surfaced, with allegations hurled at him that he is “traitor” in a bid to tarnish his reputation and credibility in the eyes of PKR members.
Around the same time a sudden press conference was called, and attended by various strong PKR leaders in the PKR headquarters. This was done to demonstrate their endorsement and support for Azmin Ali, even though some leaders who attended the meeting claimed that they were not aware of the purpose of the conference.
This occurred without Azmin himself indicating or declaring first that he is contesting for the vice- deputy presidency. Were all these events intentional? Or were they all done voluntarily by other quarters of the party without Azmin or Zaid directing them?
If one were to notice the “coincidental” events that came up one after another, one will find it hard to believe that either of the above’s camp, especially Azmin, has no hands in it.
Although we cannot say for sure that Azmin is involved, we also cannot deny that these events tip the sentiments of the voters in his favour. In fact, one can even suspect that his silence on his candidacy was intentional, so that the average members cannot blame him for the emergence of allegations and accusations as he did not (yet) declare his intention to contest.
Nonetheless, with the recent misinterpretation over Zaid's comments on party deputy president Syed Husin Ali, Azmin, instead of personally contacting Zaid to clarify what he said, took the opportunity to make a bold (but foolish) statement to the world, lambasting Zaid for being arrogant for calling Syed Hussin “nyanyuk”.
This action has surely confirmed Zaid’s allegation that there is an ongoing smear campaign against him.
And now, without a doubt we can state with a high degree of probability that it was Azmin who wants to discredit Zaid as much as he can, and it was his camp as well who was behind the smear campaigns.
Line of respect
I personally admire both Azmin and Zaid as politicians. Azmin for his unwavering loyalty and persistence even when the tide did not favour PKR, and Zaid for his strong principles and good values that he showed when he was the law minister.
However, a line of respect must be drawn when either one decides to go on a smear campaign to tarnish the reputation of another, or used underhand tactics to eliminate his competitor, or even attempt to encourage other leaders to declare support for him so as to woo the voters to his side.
Simply put, a line must be drawn when the game of perception is not played fairly or with dignity and honesty.
Politics, as much as we want it to be based simply on ideology and strong beliefs, is a game of perception. How you influence the perception of the voters about you before any election will ultimately decide your fate.
The candidates (including Zaid himself who tried to gain some support by comparing himself to the late Ghafar Baba) are both trying to influence the perception of the members. And it is fine to do so.
It is fine to convince the voters to vote for you by telling them of your good points. In fact, it is fine to highlight the weaknesses of the opponent as a politician. However, it is definitely not justified to throw allegations or embark on a campaign to simply tarnish the personal reputation of others without any basis or proven facts.
PKR preaches democracy and fairness. It was the leaders first who decided to have a direct election system for members to choose their leaders, for which many Malaysians commended. However, what is the use of having an election if it is not fair in the first place?
Top PKR leaders carry the responsibility of preserving and uplifting the image of the party. Leaders such as Azmin have unfortunately failed to do that.
The entire episode so far has all but shattered the perception that PKR preaches justice and fairness.
To many average Malaysians, the tussles clearly showed that PKR endorses old-style politics where personal attacks and underhand tactics are legitimate tools to win an election. And that party unity and respect between member leaders are mere "slogans" to be sung whenever they need it.
Go for a debate
Perhaps Zaid and Azmin should emulate the PKR Youth, which decided to engage in a healthy presidential style debate among the candidates.
If PKR Youth can show such political maturity and understanding, I cannot see why leaders vying for the No 2 spot cannot do so.
The contest should not be about personality but about issues and ideas. Therefore a public debate will certainly empower their members to decide on the best candidate to lead them as deputy president for the next general election.
Hence, instead of publishing statements to the media undermining one or another, which in turn will give the Barisan Nasional-controlled media the much-needed ammunition to tarnish PKR’s reputation, Zaid and Azmin should face each other off in a healthy public and publicised debate.
This in turn will also be seen as a massive step up and a step ahead of other political parties in terms of political maturity. Credible leaders must be seen to walk the talk. There is no use in preaching about democracy and fairness if the fair and simple rule of not tarnishing the personal reputation of others during election is not adhered to.
The author is one of the many Malaysians who are saddened by the public spat between the candidates. He believes that in any election, competition between candidates should be a healthy one, based simply on ideas, policies and what the candidates could offer to the voters.
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