Syed Husin: Third force 'neither third, nor force'

EXCLUSIVE Public attention on rampant politicking during the just-concluded PKR polls prompted much talk about a political ‘third force’ coming into existence.

But for PKR’s outgoing deputy president Syed Husin Ali, talk will be talk because for now, the third force is “neither third, nor force”.

“Most people associate the idea of a third force with the Liberal Party in England, but the Liberal Party has existed for hundreds of years as a political organisation. It has its own force.

“We have yet to see this third force as a ‘force’ or a ‘third’ because there are differing views among those behind it, too,” he told Malaysiakini last week.

The veteran politician’s decision to not defend his post sparked vicious in-fighting in PKR and allegations of vote-rigging. This led to deputy presidential aspirant Zaid Ibrahim pulling out of the contest and eventually quitting the party, pledging to set up a new one.

Syed Husin said he understands that parties involved in the third force  are not entirely independent.

“We know who is behind the third force and they may not necessarily be Pakatan-friendly,” he said, noting that this could have an adverse impact on the opposition coalition.

“I more or less know (who is involved) but one by one they have come out to say they have nothing to do with it, including Zaid, the one in Sabah, in the peninsula and in Sarawak,” he said.

Lawyer and prominent blogger Haris Ibrahim (right) - another person said to be part of the third force - has also denied the claim, saying that his proposed Barisan Rakyat is intended to screen election candidates for Pakatan Rakyat.

However, Haris does not rule out the possibility of the 20 proposed candidates contesting independently if Pakatan does not accept them.

This did not sit well with Syed Husin, who said PKR does not need to be held at ransom.

“We have our own screening process and we have a larger group of potential (candidates). Of course we can make the decision to let others contest under our banner (as PSM candidates did in 2008), that’s not a problem (but) we make this decision, not someone else coming in to say ‘You must field this candidate’.

“If they say they have someone with potential, that person must show their strength because in politics numbers count. How strong is his support?”

Interestingly, Syed Husin said that a representative believed to be in the group behind Barisan Rakyat had met with him prior to the 2008 election to suggest a candidate for the Kota Damansara state seat.

“It so happened that I knew this person he was referring to, (so I said) ‘Do you know that he is a drunkard? Where is this screening? You come here to negotiate, to ask that someone else be sidelined. But if this is your candidate then sorry, goodbye’.”

‘Media blew up small issue’

Just as he is unconvinced about the viablity of the third force, Syed Husin also brushed off talk that the party polls has reduced confidence in the party, even among Pakatan partners.

“There is anxiety over the many external attacks, but this is out of our control as the media and other party leaders may choose to attack us. But the other anxiety is over-speculation about cheating and lack of transparency,” he said.

Syed Husin, who played a liaison role between the secretariat and the party election committee, 162 complaints were received at the divisional-level polling stage.

But he said most of these were “too petty” and unfairly played up by the media.

“For example, some felt that the election officer were biased, but had no proof. Some complaints have been rejected, some have led to re-polling while 12 are still under review…Our mistake was that we did not inform the complainant of the status of their complaints earlier, but now we have,” he said.

On Monday, secretary general Saifuddin Nasution had said that nine complaints were received by the end of polling for the central leadership posts.

This does not include the memorandum submitted by deputy presidential candidate Mustaffa Kamil Ayub (right), with whom Syed Husin appears unhappy.

“The memo has about a page of general complaints. (The election committee) asked for explanations and proof but he gave none, and then he made a statement saying he is unhappy,” Syed Husin said.

He vehemently denied allegations of “chaos” during the polls and defended the administration of the polls.

Despite the shouting matches and allegations of violence, he pointed out that only a tiny proportion - five of the 218 divisions - which went to the polls had encountered problems.

“I have seen the video clips of the incidents from these divisions. We have identified that the provocateurs are from certain political parties who are our enemies,” he said, adding that party insiders too had worked with those identified.

Asked if he believes that Zaid is behind the ruckus, Syed Husin enigmatically said: “I don’t want to mention names, but there are some (people), not just one, and (this started) even before the polling began.”

Budget constraints

Nevertheless, he agreed on the need to increase the number of election officers, a fact that the party only realised midway through the polls and which it tried to rectify within budget constraints.

“Limited resources” Syed Husin said, were also to blame for the embarrassingly low voter turnout of less than 10 percent.

“One of the reasons for this is that each member should have been sent a letter, but instead they had to depend on the media and the Internet.

“We have 400,000 registered members. To send a letter to each of them…would have cost RM240,000, and letters are supposed to be sent twice, for division stage and central leadership stage,” he said.

The task was therefore delegated to divisions, but some just could not afford it. However, Syed Husin  refused to reveal how much the party spent on the polls.

The fact that members had to come out twice to vote also contributed to the measly turnout, he said.

“It is difficult for people in Sabah and Sarawak to come out and vote twice. For example, the polling centre might be far away (and) the expenses will be large.

“(Division and central polling) should be done at the same time and this will require a change in the party constitution and is a proposal that will hopefully be put forward.”

Whatever the teething problems, he is certain that the party’s experiment with democracy is far from over.

Related stories

Part 1: Syed Husin unfazed, says not many will join Zaid

Part 2: 'I didn't know it would get this bad'