Pakatan Rakyat's DAP and PAS Would Be Well Advised To Start Retiring Their Aging Warlords

The article from Bernama below is a good example of the uncompromising views of those leaders who are unable to reconfigure their ideas and ambitions which were formed over the past forty to fifty years.

"PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has criticised DAP chairman Karpal Singh for saying that PAS should not dream about becoming the backbone of the proposed "Pakatan Rakyat" and establishing an Islamic state in the country as belittling the Kelantan state government's efforts to promote Islam.

The Kelantan Menteri Besar asked Karpal to prove the weaknesses of the PAS administration in Kelantan under Islamic principles over the past 18 years.

"I want to know (from him) what is wrong with Islam and where does he (Karpal) disagree with Islam. The non-Muslim communities are happy under us (PAS)," he told reporters after meeting the Japanese ambassador to Malaysia, Masahiko Horie, at his office here Sunday.

Last week, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Kelantan Datuk Ahmad Yaakob had said that PAS should be the backbone of "Pakatan Rakyat", a yet to be formed coalition of Opposition parties if it wanted to realise its dream of establishing an Islamic state.

Ahmad said the dream would only become a reality if all parties understood and accepted the real Islamic concept because Islam was a religion for all.

Karpal responded by saying that there was no question of any one party -- PAS, DAP or PKR -- becoming the backbone in the Pakatan Rakyat as all were equal in the alliance.

Following Karpal's statement, Nik Aziz said he would invite the DAP politician to visit Kelantan and see for himself the development in the state under Islamic principles.

"I will pay for the cost of his hotel accommodation. He does not need to see me, he can just meet the non-Muslim communities in Kelantan and then tell me what is not good about Islam."

Nik Aziz said the Islamic financial system implemented by the Kelantan state government had been recognised by global economic experts and since Kelantan came under PAS it had made a lot of improvements including abolishing interest payments and establishing an Islamic pawn-broking system.

"Non-Muslims have also been given the right to be appointed community supervisors and I want to ask him (Karpal) what is not good about this."

Nik Aziz said non-Muslims had never been forced to embrace Islam and even with the introduction of Islamic values in the state they were comfortable with the PAS administration"

***** With the Pakatan Rakyat coalition being in its infancy one would have expected their leaders to be a little more circumspect in their views, especially on controversial subjects. However that sadly does not seem to be the situation now. Scoring petty political points and pandering to their respective constituencies seems to be still the order of the day. Even if someone from one of the parties does say something which does not resonate well with the others it is better to confront the person concerned privately instead of making a capital issue of it in public.

After decades of economic and political mismanagement and hegemony of the country by Umno and its slaves, only now is the long dreamed wish of a credible alternative slowly beginning to be realised. But already there are those of the older age group who are respected in their own parties but unfortunately are ever ready to stir the shit.

Both the DAP and PAS have their share of political daredevils whose shelf life has or is about to expire. These are persons who have contributed a lot to the betterment of their parties all these years. But the time has come for a totally different approach to problem solving. Upping the ante and raising the rhetoric level is outdated and not in consonance with the best interests of the fledgling Pakatan. We need a different mindset from these politicians to negotiate the treacherous political landscape ahead. If they are not up to it then it is time for them to bid farewell and leave the navigation of the ship of government to those who can.