The Role Of The Opposition

A Conversation With Raja Petra

"A bad plan is better than no plan"

In the last issue of Aliran Monthly [Vol. 22 No. 9], the question was broached - do we need an Opposition when the present grouping of Opposition parties are so obviously at odds with one another, and one of which — PAS - is arguably as authoritarian as the Barisan Nasional itself? In other words, would we not be better off without an Opposition at all?

Better Than No Plan

‘Nonsense!’, exclaimed Raja Petra Kamarudin, the feisty chief editor of Seruan (formerly Berita) KeAdilan and director of the Free Anwar Campaign, when the question was put to him in his office the other day. ‘A bad plan is better than no plan. At least, if you have a plan (or an organization) you can detect its weaknesses as you go along, and take steps to remedy them. Without a plan, you have nothing to say. It is like designing a new house, and then improving on the design – which without the original would be impossible. We must learn from our experience and act upon it.’

‘Well then, what about PAS?’, we asked. ‘Here is a party, a member of the BA, whose leaders, just like those of UMNO, tell their members what to do and expect them to toe the party line, and who try and impose their ideology on others - as in the case of the Hudud laws in Trengganu, for instance. How can such a party belong to a movement which proclaims the virtues of democracy and freedom of choice?’

Raja Petra is not one to duck a question. ‘PAS’, he said, ‘ has every right to proclaim its convictions and to campaign for the implementation of its policies. It is a party based on Islamic principles, and there are no Muslims who are prepared to defy the syariah law or any other basic tenet of Islam as revealed in the Koran. What did the four UMNO State representatives who were present do when the Hudud laws were put forward in the Trengganu State Legislature the other day? UMNO itself has criticized the PAS State Government for introducing these laws, but did these UMNO representatives vote against the motion for their introduction? No! They abstained — and abstention is as good as assent. Why did they abstain? Because as Muslims they could not go against the doctrines of their faith. And were they threatened with the sack by the UMNO high command (cf. the two MCA ‘rebels’ of Penang). No. Nothing was said.

‘As for the other Opposition parties, the KeAdilan members did not protest, because they happen to be Muslims as well. The DAP, on the other hand, did protest — as is their prerogative in a democratic society.

Not Fair To Blame PAS

‘PAS, of course, has its own agenda: it is interested in Islamic law because it is a party based on Islam. However, it is not fair to blame PAS for acting unilaterally. They acted in the way their supporters expected of them, just as other parties do in a democratic system. They had promised in the election that if they came to power, they would introduce Islamic law. If PAS does not stick by its principles and its promises, it would cease to exist.’

‘But is it not contradictory for PAS to go along with secular parliamentary democracy a la Westminster in Malaysia when its own principles are authoritarian ones based on religious tenets?’ we ventured. ‘No, not at all’ came Raja Petra’s response. ‘PAS has no choice in the circumstances. It is the only road to power by peaceful means’

‘Of course, the BN likes to harp on the differences of point of view which exist between the various Opposition parties, forgetting that there are also many different points of view among their own members.

‘In fact’ continued Raja Petra, warming to his theme, ‘ the BN partnership of UMNO, MCA and MIC is equally as incompatible, if not more so, than the Opposition parties amongst themselves, because each BN component party represents its own communal interest. The BN is really nothing more than a marriage of convenience, in which the dominant partner, UMNO, calls the shots.

BA Based On Justice

‘Take the BA, on the other hand. It is an alliance based on one salient principle - justice, justice for all. The concept of justice is at the root of Islamic faith. All men are brothers and entitled to equal justice. The rich must help the poor, as is exemplified in the tithes of zakat and fitrah. In the mosque congregation, status and position count for nothing. Furthermore, according to the Prophet even assabiyah (i.e. nationalism) is forbidden, because all men are brothers in the eyes of the Creator, and may not be divided between the privileged and underprivileged based on race, colour, position or wealth.

‘Justice for society as a whole, against exploitation by powerful individuals forms the basis of the socialism of the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM); the DAP campaigns for a social order based on meritocracy, not special privileges for certain groups; the very name of Parti KeAdilan Nasional speaks for its commitment to social justice.

‘In other words, all the Opposition parties share in common the fundamental aim of achieving a just society. They only differ in the route to take in order to achieve this common end.’

The Art Of The Possible

To sum it all up, Raja Petra emerged as the supreme pragmatic philosopher. ‘Politics is the art of the possible’, he says. ‘Nothing in this life is perfect. We are all born with our defects. Does this means that therefore we should give up and abandon life because of these imperfections? Should we abandon a cause because we detect some weaknesses or faults in it? Should we abolish the Police Force because it has some rotten apples in it, or close our schools because some teachers are bad?”

For Raja Petra, the answer is an emphatic ‘No!’ Life has to be lived, with all its imperfections. We can aim for an ideal, but cannot expect that we will be able to achieve it - in totality. But we must each try to do our bit, and put right, however slowly, what we perceive to be wrong. We must be positive, not negative, in our approaches. We must also learn to respect the values and convictions of others, to give and take, and find solutions to problems as they arise. Above all, we must stick firmly to what we believe in and not allow others to take control of our lives.’

Food for thought.

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