May I foward to you a lovely new year message from Dzulkefly Ahmad to
end today and to receive our tomorrow together as follows :
As the year comes to a close and the curtain of the decade almost
drawn down, you
may have wondered what the future would be like. And mind you, you’re
not alone.
Given the rot that has plagued our critical institutions and the
admitted economic
stagnation of the last decade, let alone the natural disaster of
tsunami and the
never-ending epidemics, little wonder why many are anxious, raving and
ranting.
But, all is not gloom and grim. As the saying goes, every dark cloud
has a silver
lightening.
Yes, a ’silver lightning from the black sky’ of our beloved nation was
seen, perhaps
a glimpse of the future. It has in fact arrived nonetheless.
Yes, you are right. The future is here. It may be slightly ahead of
schedule. But
there isn’t much choice either. It had a strong calling and felt
compelled to arrive
ahead of time.
It indeed heralds the dawn of a new awakening, long-awaited and quite
welcomed by
many, dreaded only by the enemies of change and reform.
Nothing captures this event better than the candid expression of the
Spiritual
Leader of PAS, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, when he effortlessly exclaimed that
“saya berasa
dalam dunia baru” ( I felt like being in a New World) – when seated
next to his
once-upon-a-time-political-arch-rival, Karpal Singh, the DAP chairman.
Yes you are right again. I’m talking about the Common Policy
Framework, now dubbed
the CPF, launched on their First Pakatan Convention on Dec 19 in Shah
Alam,
Selangor.
Malaysian Political Trajectory
I’m revisiting this ‘historic’ event unusually early. Like many
perhaps, I wanted it
to be made eternally “Current History”.
I remember the advertisement insignia of the journal ‘Current History’
that tags “If
you’re not current, you’re history”. While Dec 19 may be ‘historical’
in more than
one sense, many wouldn’t want it to be just ‘history’.
If anything, Dec 19 should remain current, better still an early
arrival of a
vibrant political trajectory of the Malaysian political history for
the next 50
years, the next 5 decades! Yes…. well in advance of the next general
election.
Quoting a Malaysian insider’s columnist, the race for control of
Putrajaya in the
next general election appears to have begun with the recent unveiling
of Pakatan
Rakyat’s (PR) common policy framework (CPF) and Najib Razak’s National
Key Results
Areas (NKRAs).
While not wanting to disagree with the above assertion, the writer
would want to
believe that Pakatan’s CPF is much beyond the narrow zero-sum game of
the political
contestation of a parliamentary democracy.
The writer strongly believes that the CPF is the policy framework of a
New Politics
for a New Malaysia.
After half a century of sovereign independence, Malaysia is now ready
to make the
next quantum leap of nation rebuilding.
Decades of Stagnation and Decay
The imperative need for change is all too evident and abound. The last
3 decades saw
how the nation was almost bankrupted by unbridled extravagance; the
squandering of
our wealth despite the yearly admonition of the auditor-general’s
report exposing
endemic corruption and abuse of public money year in and year out,
while our
fundamental liberties were trampled upon.
Suffice to paraphrase some current notable men of our nation as to
depict the
ruinous outcome of their ‘law-of-the-rule’ that have pervaded the
entire gamut of
our national life.
A constitutional law expert has called our nation Zimbabwe by another
name. Without
mincing his words, Professor Abdul Aziz Bari (left) has likened those
who hold the
reins of power in Malaysia to a bunch of ‘thugs’.
Numerous examples were cited in elaborating his accusation of the
state of
‘lawlessness’ and bemoaned the travesty of justice when “the judiciary
takes its cue
from the government.”
The overturning of the decisions of the high court by the appeal court
on numerous
occasions smack of contempt; the like of MACC’s questioning time, the
Perak
constitutional impasse etc, etc, while the setting up of the JPP
(Federal
Development Department) is downright ultra vires the defined rights of
the states,
the continuous assault on the practice of Federalism as embedded and
enshrined in
the Federal Constitution.
The recent use of the Emergency Ordinance to define territorial waters
in the
Kelantan oil royalty issue is yet another example of the BN
government’s blatant
disregard for the law.
The second finance minister has now finally and fully concurred with
the former
finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the economy is
stagnating.
The signs of a low growth economy are all around us. Wages have
stagnated and the
cost of living is ever-rising.
According to the World Bank, Malaysia’s share of GDP contributed by
services was
46.2% in 1987. Ten years later, that share had grown by a mere 0.2%.
Between 1994 and 2007, real wages grew by 2.6% in the domestic sector
and by 2.8% in
the export sector, which is to say, they were flat over that thirteen
year period.
Pakatan Rakyat’s CPF
Pakatan Rakyat’s CPF has presented a novel and a rejuvenating
framework for our
nation-rebuilding well ahead of the next general election. It is a
policy advocacy
to lead the rakyat and this nation out of the current worsening
crisis.
The policies that are derived from adherence to the Federal
Constitution and
universal principles of justice will safeguard the rule of law and the
independence
of the judiciary, which in turn will guarantee that the human rights
and dignity of
the people will continuously be defended and upheld.
The CPF has put down four major points to make the case to voters, by
promising
transparent and genuine democracy, a high-performance people-centric
economy, social
justice and human development, and better federal-state relationship
and foreign
policy. (refer to Dawn of a New Awakening for details).
The fact that it has been derived from a consensus achieved out of
‘debate and
dissent’ from a 3- party coalition now called PAKATAN RAKYAT is both
awesome and
inspiring.
PAS, together with DAP and PKR have now reasserted their commitment to
the common
policies, while putting their own diverging ideological convictions
within their own
party’s platform.
Pakatan reassures the Rakyat that “we are in to seriously ‘walking our
talk’ after
the policies are laid down. The last 20 months saw our tireless
efforts, admittedly
not without its shortcomings though.
“In realising the people’s aspiration and hope, Pakatan therefore
declares our
commitment to execute the agenda of new politics by mobilising the
people’s power
from the various races, religions and cultures as one force”.
Clarifying PAS’ Islamic Advocacy in CPF
Contrary to the accusation of mellowing and diluting its Islamic
agenda, PAS has now
come strong on her Islamic stance of attacking Umno/BN over its narrow
racial
approach of Malay Hegemony, perversion of power, the spread of
corruption, the
plunder of the nation’s wealth and the repression of the people’s
rights, all in
total contradiction of Islam.
The party’s advocacy of Islamic Governance and Democracy is indeed
distinct in the
experience of Political Islam on the global stage.
Given the truly plural politics of Malaysia and a mixed demography of
the
electorate, PAS’ coalition building experiment is unique and rare.
The party now stresses the imperative needs of establishing Justice,
the supreme and
overriding purpose of Syariah.
The articulation of PAS’ Islamic political advocacy in Pakatan is very
much admired
and supported by all, making its tagline of ‘PAS For All’ and soon
‘Islam for All’
the envy of its political nemesis, Umno, the Malay party.
The party has come a long way in a short while after March 2008, to
understand that
they must not allow the repeat of the 11th general election that saw
PAS suffering
one of its worst electoral debacles after assuming the opposition
leadership in the
parliament for only one term.
PAS has now contextualized its electoral strategic objectives within
the broader
framework of the Pakatan.
The Islamic party has now debunked the fears of adherents of other
faiths
(Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism) of Islam and tore down the
barriers of race,
religion and cultures, by advocating the Politics of Mutual Respect
and
Understanding (Politics of Lita’arafu).
PAS’ comrades in Pakatan have come to be familiar with common verses
of the Quran
and now even the Tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, while the Chief
Minister of
Penang openly cherishes the Good Governance of the Caliph Umar Abdul
Aziz in
advocating “Amar Ma’aruf and Nahi Mungkar”. (Enjoining Good and
Forbidding Evil).
PAS by now should understand that the prudent approach of advocating
the “Islamic
Criminal Laws” could only be done within the ambit of democracy and
through the
ballot-box i.e through persuasion and being mandated by the rakyat as
a whole.
PAS must avoid the mistake of again being perceived as imposing Islam
and the
Islamic Criminal Laws (Hudud etc), on others, as it will subvert
Pakatan’s CPF.
Being a truly democratic Islamist party PAS must assure others that it
has to
achieve its objectives by complying with the parliamentary and
democratic process of
the country and it has to achieve it incrementally through a strategy
of ‘winning
hearts and minds’ of the entire rakyat through the ballot box.
We invite the Malaysian people to create a new consensus founded on
the principle of
Justice for all and a genuine Constitutionalism.
This is the agenda of the future, now and that must be done if we are
to regain the
nation’s respect, freedom and dignity.
This is the path of redemption for the lost decades of this nation.
Pakatan is ready
for change. Are you?
DR DZULKEFLY AHMAD is member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor and PAS
central
working committee member.
