A few days before March 8, 2008, I followed my buddy Philip to a PKR ceramah held at Brown Gardens just so we could listen to YM RPK give his speech. As it turned out, YM RPK was not allowed to speak at the ceramah. Instead, we listened to Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim and YB R.S.N. Rayer. At that time, I thought the former spoke with much sincerity and earnestness in a very soft-spoken and gentle manner. Much later, I discovered that he is the uncle of three of my former students. One of them spoke with much joy about how sold out was his uncle to the cause. And then the bubble burst when Datuk Seri Zahrain lambasted Penang CM Lim Guan Eng, calling him a “chauvinist, Communist-minded and a dictator.”
Today, Malaysiakini reported HERE Zahrain announced that he is giving up all of his party posts and quitting from PKR with immediate effect. He will become an independent member of Parliament but one 'not friendly to BN.
The report said:
While acknowledging that he is elected by the people, he said that he also has to consider his own interests: "There must be a balance between the people's interests and my interests".
However Zahrain made assurances that he would not shirk his responsibilities and continue to serve the people to the best of his ability.
While it is commendable that he spoke of the balance between the rakyats interests and his own, should he or any others who display such patterns of behavior be permitted to continue to be a MP even after abandoning the party label under which voters elected him? To me, his resignation has frustrated the expectations of voters who elected him because they believed then that he is a PKR supporter who stood for their political inclinations.
He must remember that he has an obligation to honor promises that he made to his constituents during the March 2008 election campaign. His resignation means that there is now a change in party affiliation which in real terms breaks faith with voters more profoundly than just a personal disagreement with DSAI or 916 that did not materialise or LGE.
His appearance on the ballot under the PKR label constitutes a tacit pledge that he will help PKR organize and execute their strategy to serve the constituency to which he was elected. While voters understand that changed circumstances may have caused him to alter his stand on specific issues, his PKR membership and experience as a politician and businessman should hold him in good stead to weather many storms but it appears otherwise!
Research shows that while many voters tend to vote for the person rather than the party, many others vote for the party rather than for the person. Since party loyalists are not likely to have voted for the Zahrain's opponent, he has not vitiated the votes of party loyalists in the previous general election. He has, however, deprived party loyalists of the opportunity to nominate a more loyal party member in the party. At the same time, analysts say there are no straightforward answers to such a scenario because it depends on whether voters choose the candidate or the party he represents in an election and that is something that only the Almighty knows.
However, let's put that aside and consider his rationale for his exit. He said that he resigned because of:
- his disappointment with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng
- his disillusionment with PKR and Pakatan Rakyat
- his disagreements with the "captains" in Pakatan.
- he does not want to be part of a sinking ship and be blamed by the rakyat for being associated with Pakatan's mockery of the people's trust. I will not be a part of this group of people which are destroying my country, my race and my religion".
- his opinion that Pakatan no longer embodies the principles of justice which they "once trumpeted throughout the land".
- his disappointment with the promise of major change after Sept 16 which did not happen
- his opinion that he does not want history to punish him for not taking action
*The above statements were extracted from HERE and HERE and HERE.
If you look at his rationale carefully, and compare these with what other leaders say about him
HERE and HERE, we can see that his exit was expected by PKR's leadership because of what would have happened to him had he stayed on. At the same time, it seems as though self-preservation is more important to him than his pledge to serve the rakyat under the PKR flag.
A good leader does not allow his personal conflict with fellow leaders interfere with the execution of his goals and objectives. A good leader most certainly will NOT abandon a sinking ship but would be the first to bail the water out of that ship. Also, leaders of high caliber would make the effort to bridge gaps in private instead of washing dirty linen in public as discussed in one of my earlier posts HERE.
By making such statements, he has actually committed political suicide because it is likely that should he stand for re-election, the support from voters may not be forthcoming like before. Whatever differences or disappointment, one must mourn and resolve these differences in private, and have the courage and stamina to continually review one's personal calling and commitment in politics and then live up to one's principles when serving the rakyat. Then only can he be regarded as a leader of substance.
As it is, his words and actions show otherwise. Only he and God know the true reason for his exit - whether it is for self-preservation or self-advancement and he will have to answer to his maker.
In the mean time, I guess the rakyat may suffer for now, but be wiser when voting the next time. And PKR had better be WISER when selecting candidates for the next GE. Any rejects may be a liability if they bring along previous baggage. On a positive side, PKR and Pakatan is now free of a burden and can plod on albeit carefully because I am sure there are many landmines planted here, there and everywhere to hinder them from meeting objectives.
PKR and PR, please shape up!!! The cracks are showing and more than just glue is needed to hold both the party and coalition together with so many internal and external forces working against it.
