Something is rotten in the State of Selangor

Will Pakatan Rakyat self-destruct in Selangor? As they have done in Perak? Will they go to the 13^th General Election ready to do battle with Barisan Nasional? Or will they go again to the people as the under dog and do what UMNO is now doing on bended knees with the Malays …begging for support?

The euphoria of victory from the last general election is a distant memory for all of us today but not, it seems for Pakatan Rakyat. Victory in by-elections does you no favours in a general election. Too quickly Pakatan Rakyat has claimed the 2008 victory as their own. Too quickly Pakatan Rakyat has taken the mantle of government in the five states with much promise to do good for the people and far too quickly Pakatan Rakyat politicians have made true this truism: that man in his voluntary actions is motivated purely by self interest rather then a feeling of helping others – putting self interest before national interest!

And if this is true how can we demand they put national interest before self? Well at least we demand that they do their ‘self interest…ing’ behind close door. We have not question PR leaders what money they have? How expensive is the house they live in? How many cars do they have? Are they rich? For now we do not question how they are going to finance their election. After UMNO we expect them to know better.

But this we will do.

When PR loses Perak we want to know why and how it happened. What Najib did was is simply politics. And as politicians you should know better and be able to take care of your own turf.

When you lose your YB’s we want to know how and why? Telling us that BN pays them RM$2 million each is not relevant. Show us the trial of money or the cheque. When the goats are already in the pen for the night and then somehow manage to escape during the night – it is not the broken pen that is to be blamed – the goatherd takes responsibility. You Anwar is the goatherd.

And when you allow the whole world to know that you are not able to manage and contain your internal conflicts – do not come to us and proudly proclaim that “in PR we allow dissent and everybody can have their say”. Do not treat us like idiots as BN does. When there is conflict and dissent within Selangor then we know that PR is weak and will not be able to hold Selangor against UMNO. Get your house in order. Do what you have to do. We are impatient for this to be done. We want to be assured that the votes we have given PR and the votes we are expected to give PR in the 13^th General Election are deserved and that you will not abuse the trust we place in you.

The first amongst equal in PR is Anwar and we require that Anwar take this responsibility seriously. No rhetoric’s, no ifs no buts – just get on with the responsibility of a leader. The time has come to get your act together. No more sniping at UMNO to win cheap points. No more going into the trenches to ambush BN and lead strikes against UMNO. No more giving BN the opportunity to go head to head with you …and win! Stay above the fray!

Yes we know that it is almost impossible to do anything in Malaysia politics without money. We understand that no Politician is in politics purely for national interest. Big cars, palatial houses and money in the bank for the ‘perjuangan’ are important but I can tell you this.

 Remember the times before the 2008 elections? Remember how many YB’s were ‘negotiating’ with Anwar about how much money you needed to pay for poster, electoral staff and ‘expenses’ to stand as PR’s candidate? Remember the hopelessness you felt at going against such a rich and well-oiled UMNO electoral machinery but that the ‘advances’ did go a long way to make it worth your while? And when victory came how quickly your thoughts turned towards how much money you can make? Yes some projects for the Rakyats but also some projects for the YB’s too. And for some how quickly this became the basis of whether you stayed in PR or joined UMNO?

I am sure you YB’s understand that politics without power is not a place you want to be in. Politics without power is worse then being a policeman stuck behind a desk without any hope of earning any ‘selesai money”. Politics without power is not what you want to wish even upon your worse enemy.

But this power comes not from BN or PR – it comes from the Rakyat. It comes from the people. Have you all forgotten the bottomless pit in your stomach when all the campaigning is done and the vote counting begins? It is the people that decide.

Now we are telling the MB of Selangor and the group of PR YB’s who are yelling for his head – we want to tell you PR politicians to stop and think and understand that we will not forget that it was PR that gave Perak to BN and if Selangor falls into BN’s hand then “tiada maaf ‘ for PR – in as far as the people are concerned.

We understand that all that is happening in Selangor is ultimately about money. It has nothing to do with anything else. Ask Vincent Tan, ask Daem, as Halim Saad…they have got money and they do not want to be politicians. They just want the money. So the sooner Khalid and Anwar understand these realities (as they surely do!) the sooner PR can move on.

Just make sure of one thing Anwar. Not tomorrow, not next week and definitely it will be too late by the next general election – we want you to go and ‘turun padang’ in Selangor . You go and do what you have to do to resolve the issue. If you have to take out Khalid do it. If not ensure that those who want Khalid out are taken out themselves. Or else get them to work together. I repeat. Either get Khalid out or get the two opposing factions to work together. Giving Selangor back to BN is not something we will take with too much grace. It is not Khalid that we will fault for giving back Selangor to Toyo. It is you Anwar that we will hold responsible! You are our leader!