This is my response in full to Malaysiakini journalist, Alyaa with regards to PH, Zaid and his oysters dinner.
I respect his opinion but I think that Dato Zaid is jumping the gun so to say. It is a little extreme to draw conclusions from the Sarawak state elections that a coalition between PKR, DAP and AMANAH, ie Pakatan Harapan is no longer worth the effort. We must understand the circumstances and conditions behind its formation and the intricacies involved. Suffice to say that PH is less than a year old and faced opposition to its formation even within the leadership of the opposition and the civil society. Nonetheless it came into being and took to the Sarawak polls as best it could, given the circumstances.
So although contests amongst the coalition partners are a disappointment, it must be said that it is only in less than 10% of the seats contested.
Secondly it must be said that Sarawak is unique and both PKR and DAP have equally strong claims on a few seats. This has been acknowledged all along so much so that when we wanted to form PH, there were a few who suggested we wait until after the Sarawak state elections predicting, correctly, that there would be contests between PH members during the elections given the circumstances. However we went ahead because we believed it could be managed and even if it did happen, it would be limited and would not spell the end of PH.
Last but not least… Is fact that even with Pakatan Rakyat, which was formed in 2008, inter party contests still occurred in 2013! Although enraging, in particular the ones involving PAS in Semenanjung, it did not prevent the formation of PR governments in Selangor and Penang, two states where the inter party contests occurred. Therefore, although it is a shortcoming and a fault, it is by no way necessarily fatal. Unless of course if one wants to use it as an excuse to kill the coalition.
I am not insinuating Zaid is trying to use this as an excuse to kill the coalition, but I am suggesting that it takes more than that to necessitate a divorce. The coalition is a must as all 3 parties have their strengths and area of influence. We just have to improve a little bit more and work harder in order to be ready for the 14th GE.
WaLlahu 'Alam
KHALID SAMAD
I respect his opinion but I think that Dato Zaid is jumping the gun so to say. It is a little extreme to draw conclusions from the Sarawak state elections that a coalition between PKR, DAP and AMANAH, ie Pakatan Harapan is no longer worth the effort. We must understand the circumstances and conditions behind its formation and the intricacies involved. Suffice to say that PH is less than a year old and faced opposition to its formation even within the leadership of the opposition and the civil society. Nonetheless it came into being and took to the Sarawak polls as best it could, given the circumstances.
So although contests amongst the coalition partners are a disappointment, it must be said that it is only in less than 10% of the seats contested.
Secondly it must be said that Sarawak is unique and both PKR and DAP have equally strong claims on a few seats. This has been acknowledged all along so much so that when we wanted to form PH, there were a few who suggested we wait until after the Sarawak state elections predicting, correctly, that there would be contests between PH members during the elections given the circumstances. However we went ahead because we believed it could be managed and even if it did happen, it would be limited and would not spell the end of PH.
Last but not least… Is fact that even with Pakatan Rakyat, which was formed in 2008, inter party contests still occurred in 2013! Although enraging, in particular the ones involving PAS in Semenanjung, it did not prevent the formation of PR governments in Selangor and Penang, two states where the inter party contests occurred. Therefore, although it is a shortcoming and a fault, it is by no way necessarily fatal. Unless of course if one wants to use it as an excuse to kill the coalition.
I am not insinuating Zaid is trying to use this as an excuse to kill the coalition, but I am suggesting that it takes more than that to necessitate a divorce. The coalition is a must as all 3 parties have their strengths and area of influence. We just have to improve a little bit more and work harder in order to be ready for the 14th GE.
WaLlahu 'Alam
KHALID SAMAD
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