COMMENT On a day when the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor demonstrated it could be responsive to internal criticism of it by unveiling an inclusive budget, its counterpart in Penang came under fire from an ally for alleged lack of consultation.

Despite having only one representative in the state assembly, Penang PAS felt justified enough to launch a diatribe against the state government for supposed marginalisation of the party when it came to policies and appointments.

NONEYesterday, Penang PAS deputy commissioner Fauzi Yusof (left) threatened to withdraw support from the ruling coalition if the party's demands for consultation on appointments and inputs on policy are not met.

Tellingly, the party's state chief Saleh Man was not present at the press conference where his deputy voiced its discontent with the state of intra-coalition collaboration.

Saleh, PAS' lone assemblyperson from Permatang Pasir, is a passive personality whom one could not have imagined would have opted for a public airing of grievances; he's the sort who would have murmured his discontent in private rather than voiced it in public.

Whether he chose to be absent or was in the dark about yesterday's press conference is being interpreted as characteristic of his lack of assertion rather than a sign of distaste for a public airing of grouses.

Suffice it would be unwise for movers and shakers in the Penang Pakatan government to ignore the disenchantment voiced by Fauzi who appeared confident that his party's contribution to the coalition's success at GE13 was greater than the weight of its lone rep in the state assembly.

Fauzi's confidence allowed for no caveats despite the fact that at last May's general election, the state ward of Sungai Acheh stayed in the BN's hands chiefly because of PAS' refusal to cooperate.

The presence of a PAS candidate, who declined to withdraw, had converted the contest for the seat into a three-cornered fight which redounded to the disadvantage of the PKR contender; the BN's nominee's winning margin was close to the votes garnered by the PAS spoiler.

Still, it would be folly to ignore the disenchantment aired yesterday by Penang PAS simply because, regardless of whether the party has one or no rep in the state assembly, it would be good for the national state of intra-Pakatan collaboration to heed a cry of dissatisfaction from within the coalition.

Still a work in progress

The Pakatan coalition continues to be a work in progress. Crochets and quavers from within must be heeded for the coalition to gather more credibility in the long march to gaining nationwide endorsement for the right to the keys to Putrajaya.

From this standpoint, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, in unveiling yesterday the 2014 budget for the Pakatan-administered state, had done well to take note of the criticisms earlier leveled at him by allocating RM430 million of the RM2.7 billion reserves he had prudently accumulated over five years, apportioning the sum for a host of needed infrastructural and development projects.

NONEPrior to this, Khalid (left), in his management of state finances, had prioritised prudent accumulation of reserves over responsiveness to compelling developmental needs.

Criticised by fellow PKR and Pakatan leaders, Khalid reacted by saying that he was more concerned to do good by the people than perhaps heed their elected representatives.

When that response drew more internal criticism of his priorities, he changed tact, promising to listen to his critics and in the annual budget announced yesterday, he made good on his word.

Intra-coalition criticism that is not destructive should be welcomed as an aid towards the strengthening of the Pakatan administrations of Selangor and Penang.

NONEHere it must be noted that a lack of agility in responding to intra-coalition criticism on the part of the late Azizan Abdul Razak (right) of PAS, the Pakatan menteri besar of Kedah for the term 2008-2013, contributed to the coalition's failure to retain the state at last May's polls.

A higher degree of solicitousness for the opinions of internal critics is said to have helped Azizan's successor as Kedah PAS commissioner, Mahfuz Omar, in marshaling the successful fight to retain the Sg Limau state seat in the recent by-election held there.

So long as Penang PAS does not think that they are the principal custodian of all things Islamic in the state, the range of criticisms they aired yesterday ought to be palliated.

A sure way towards placation would be to make a feature of its way of doing business regular meetings of the state Pakatan leadership council which Fauzi said had not met even once since the general election last May.

This absence of meetings reflects poorly on the willingness to consult without which intra-coalition collaboration would be difficult to sustain.

The criticisms of Penang PAS of the Pakatan government, rather than be regarded as spurious and carping, should be taken as a spur towards the goal even better governance of the state.

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for four decades now. He likes the profession because it keeps him in touch with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them.