To say that Pakatan Rakyat is in disarray is an understatement. In fact, the opposition pact that once gave the Malaysian electorate so much hope and aspiration has lost its momentum completely.

Worse, the leaders are so misguided, confused and even self-important that they have allowed themselves to be caught in snares set up by Umno, their faces full of mud and blood.

It does not take a genius to know who engineered the controversy around the use of kalimah ‘Allah’, but the failure of the Pakatan leadership to immediately condemn the high-handedness of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) in seizing hundreds of copies of the Malay Bible from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) is symptomatic of their lacklustre nature in facing down fanatical forces in this country.

As of today, the promise by the Selangor state government to return confiscated copies of the Bible is still ringing hollow.

All these point to a severe lack of confidence on the part of Pakatan. Are they so paranoid that speaking out on the issue would alienate their Muslim supporters so easily? Would those who have abandoned Umno in droves over cronyism, nepotism, corruption and religious sanctimony suddenly flock back to the Malay party just because the opposition front had made a clear stance that non-Muslims are entitled to kalimah ‘Allah’ so long as they do not abuse it?

Would those who have given their whole lives to sustaining PAS as an alternative to an increasingly autocratic and arrogant Umno suddenly find Umno more pious and acceptable just because of one holy word?

If this is the case, then the Pakatan leadership does have a serious problem with its credentials. If PAS has not been able to make more inroads into the Malay constituency with its Islamic state agenda, what made it think that chastising Umno for playing up the kalimah issue would erode its support base further?

A snowball effect

Pakatan can come up with a myriad of reasons why it had to tread cautiously over the kalimah ‘Allah’ dispute, media vilification being one of the most oft-cited. But RTM, TV3, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian have failed time and again to put a dent in the public support for the opposition, why would it be different this time? Isn’t it the BN-controlled media that have lost more credibility than any others in the country since 1998?

Both Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim (left) and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim should have protested loud and clear Jais’ haughty and disdainful attitude, but they let the issue snowball into a full-blown crisis and now it is too late for them to lance over the boil, for their indecisiveness, inaction and inertia are already clear to all, especially to the non-Muslim communities.

Instead of responding in time to this vitally important crisis, Anwar chose to make a hoo-ha over the denial of his entry into Japan, with his comical minion Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin leading a farcical protest outside the embassy of Japan, complete with the stomping and burning of the Japanese flag.

Granted, it is the PKR Youth leader’s democratic right to freedom of speech, while the clarifications of the Japanese authorities are crappy. Still, in failing to deal with the more relevant issues, Anwar and his allies have effectively given the public the undesirable impression that they are more interested in gaining political mileage out of nothing, but nowhere to be seen when true leadership is needed.

So it was left to Marina Mahathir to address the Christians’ grievances. Paradoxically, she was conspicuous by her absence when similar controversies flared up during former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s autocracy.

For those who rushed to applaud Marina for her ‘liberal conscience’, I have a timely reminder that it was the same Marina who resorted to her charming, gentle and soft writing style in urging for status quo when much of the Malay electorate was yearning for a change of government back in the heyday of reformasi.

Collective pain when under attack

In her article titled ‘The Claim For Reformasi’ published on Sept 23, 1998, in The Star, she was clearly contemptuous of those who were urging Mahathir to step down, and using the mayhem, chaos, poverty and violence that were engulfing Jakarta at the time to hint at a similar fate if Malaysians were not careful enough!

Of course, Marina is much bolder now to the point of openly urging the country’s leader to face the people, albeit without naming names still.

What a lucky coincidence that former information minister Zainuddin Maidin, former New Straits Times group editor Kadir Jasin and Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir (right) are also rebelling against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak publicly, so is the Mahathir clan seeking a formidable comeback? Would things be very different had Mukhriz been elected to Umno’s top leadership with Najib’s blessings?

Pakatan leaders are still sleepwalking despite the interesting and dynamic developments. DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has even asked Machang Bubuk assemblyperson Lee Khai Loon to apologise over the kangkung flash mob, fearing that it could backfire on Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, or his son’s state government. However, Pakatan is a collective body and if one branch comes under attack by Umno, others should feel the pain and lick the wounds also.

Hence, it is most ungentlemanly and unceremoniously of Kit Siang. When his party was facing the risk of being deregistered just before the 13th general election, it was PKR and PAS that offered them the platform and logos to contest as equal partners. But as Lee was mercilessly attacked with racist slurs and the ghosts of the May 13 racial riots, all that Lim and his father can do is to distance themselves and try to look nice to Umno!

What has got into Kit Siang’s head that he is even exploring the possibilities of working together with Umno in sorting out the ongoing ‘racial disputes’? Is it not Umno that has dragged the whole country into the utter shambles right now? Would one go to a drug lord for a cure of one’s addiction?

The fox is already fully in charge of the henhouse, so why on earth would the hen want to surrender more eggs to it?

Or is Lim simply content with being just a big fish in a small pond?

With Najib and Rosmah beset with one scandal after another, and Umno on the cusp of an implosion, all that the country needs is true leadership. Alas, good leaders in Malaysia are either in short supply or on long leave, or so it would seem.


JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.