Strike The Shepherd To Scatter The Sheep!

They say God moves in mysterious ways. And I am certain Malaysia is dear to His heart. So whatever happens in this country, I have faith He can turn the worst crisis into an unmitigated blessing.

In the political dramas that we live in today, the ordinary citizens are just bystanders to the play. The only difference is that this play is for real and our economic and social health will be affected by it, for better or for worse.

I can't imagine the day the nation comes to a standstill just because some powerful politicians are fighting for the premiership. This morning, on my way to work, the traffic almost came to a standstill.

I am no political scientist even though I studied at a world-class political science university. But I have a strange intuition that the winds of change blowing through Malaysia are bigger than just what the naked eye can see. Perhaps, this is why I started this blog in May 2008: To change from being a passive witness of Malaysian politics to be an active citizen.

Now the political strategy of both PR and BN is simply this: Strike the shepherd/leader and then the sheep/followers will surely scatter. Anwar is targeted by his adversaries in the sodomy charge while he himself is attempting a pre-emptive strike against certain leaders in BN way before the next elections.

Advice to Pakatan Rakyat: The key to defeating BN is to stand firm on the middle ground of Malaysian society so that the fence-sitters and the politically neutral will share PKR/PAS/DAP's common values: i.e. that the alliance is an ethical party that fights relentlessly against corruption, racism and injustice. PR should never be anti-UMNO but anti-greed for power and money, anti-wastage and anti-injustice.

Frankly, PR needs to rebrand itself into a cohesive coalition rather than remain as a tactical marriage of convenience. PAS chief Nik Aziz said to avoid going to the snake pit. That is sufficient not to be bitten. But PR should start to form the shadow cabinet and implement positive policies that will build up the economies and communities of the five PR states.

PR should also consider plan B in the event DSAI is taken out of the political arena for some reason or other. Could an enigmatic blogger with the stature like RPK fill in the void? He has to be a political visionary, highly intelligent and ethical. On the question of credibility, the source of RPK's SD remains a mystery to the public.

Advice to BN: Reform the government, police and judiciary by implementing a system of meritocracy, which provides incentives to be honest and efficient and disincentives to be corrupt. Is that asking too much? Why can't the lead'ers of BN see that monopolizing the economic pie for the short term will see them end up with a smaller pie to share among the cronies in five years time?

Advice to the Rakyat: Start voicing and supporting the need for a third political party that has the best qualities of PR (their long-term values) and BN (its organisational skills) without any of their weaknesses. This means we need a few good men or women to rise up who will move away from race-based politics and the mentality of birth-right entitlement to a system of value-based politics. A three-party system will reduce the risk of a duopoly party system taking advantage of the Rakyat.

But even if these three protagonists of Malaysian society do nothing but remain status quo, the Rakyat could still be the beneficiary of the stalemate between BN and PR. Each day, (through Parliamentary and recently TV debates) we are learning something new about how the government works and what was only known in the closed corridors of Putrajaya.