By TAY TIAN YAN
Translated by DOMINIC LOH
PKR members should be delighted that they can choose a deputy president from three very different types of leaders.
The first one is Azmin, who is staunchly loyal to the party with deeply ingrained hatred towards Umno. He is probably the only person who will stay back if all other PKR members have jumped ship. Moreover, he has a lot of ideas as well as vibrancy and has passed the tests of time. He is simply a born politician.
The second one is Zaid Ibrahim, a futuristic type of leader who advocates open and progressive politics. He has an obligation towards a pluralistic society and democracy that works perfectly well with the ideals of PKR.
The third one is Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim, an administrative expert, CEO-type of leader who is fair and clean and someone you can hardly find fault with.
If these three are not enough, we still have Mustafa and the fast rising star Nurul Izzah all the more ready to join in the race.
But PKR members are also a troubled lot, as they must choose the right person among the trio to be their post-Anwar deputy.
And this deputy president must be able to take the place of Anwar to bring the party together and lead, instead of creating more fission.
Unfortunately all these three deputy presidential candidates have their own shortcomings.
Azmin is smart and an all-rounded politician, but he has not shown that kind of style a political leader should have.
A young party like PKR needs a leader that can create a political vision to lure the public. Unfortunately, we have so far not seen this from Azmin.
Zaid Ibrahim is a sharp contrast to Azmin. He has all that is lacking in Azmin. He can talk about aspirations and visions, democracy and righteousness, in a way that will convince and captivate the audience.
But he lacks the wisdom and tactics of Azmin.
In electoral politics he is already an out-of-control bomb that can blast off himself and his party. If he opens his mouth, there is 80% chance he will say something inappropriate that would either offend people or scare the supporters away.
And then we have Khalid Ibrahim. Although he is loyal and enthusiastic, he lacks a political aptitude. He doesn’t have the political senses of Azmin nor the charisma of Zaid.
If we were to choose a minister or chief secretary to the government, Khalid is the most ideal person to pick, but his election to deputy presidency, and future presidency, is likely to make many tremble with concerns.
In politics, only the wolves would survive, not the Little Red Hats.
Democracy is like a supermarket. So long it is well stocked, the merchandise is in steady supply and not overdue, there is bound to be market and customers. The this goes well with the supply-demand principles as well as the laws of democratic politics.
On the contrary, if the stock is in short supply and the products have outstayed their expiry dates, the situation could become very worrisome.
A political party that has only a handful of old men, no young talents and no competition is destined to wind up.
As such, PKR should count its blessings. A multi-cornered fight is not a bad thing at all no matter how tough it could get.
Sin Chew Daily