A GROUPING OF PERSONALITIES

IT'S been some days now since I last wrote here. Been busy writing reports for companies, that's why. And the Internet link-up has not been flashy where I live but I've been keeping in touch with the unity government issue.

If Pakatan Rakyat as a group agrees to disagree with the suggestion by Pas president Hadi Awang I'm not surprised at all because to allow even the first round of discussions to start would be disastrous for the personal ambitions of other leaders in the grouping. Hadi hasn't expanded on what he has in mind but many people I know who follow politics think that Hadi's idea has more to do with Malay politics.

Beyond the rights and wrongs of such an idea in the first place, a peek below the surface of the statements being made will expose the Pakatan parties and their leaders for what they really are.

Pas seems to lack cohesiveness at the top but because of their Islamic orientation, the reactions to the contradictory statements among themselves are not as pronounced or as biting as those usually seen coming from a more structured party like Umno or the MCA. There appears to be much respect for spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat but it's clear that his influence is not felt wide and far. But because of his age and religious reputation, he is allowed space to speak and comment as if he's holding an elected post in the party, which he is not.

If there's a distinct denominator in the leadership of the three Pakatan parties it is this -- all three are personality driven, with the ones who hold rather ambiguous titles appearing to have more say and power than the elected ones.

Anwar Ibrahim is a de facto leader of PKR and yet seems to be it's main man, more prominent than his wife and president Wan Azizah. Documents from PKR credit Anwar as the party's ketua umum which I have been trying hard to determine its equivalent in English but somehow escapes me. Lim Kit Siang, according to the Dap website, is its Parliamentary leader but all news items refer to him as its adviser. Have you ever heard anyone in the Dap telling off Kit Siang for talking too much on just about everything, often more than his president? Nik Aziz's position I have already mentioned earlier.

So is there a need for a unity government? Since no one really knows the mechanics of it I think it's best to leave everything as it is. We'll just continue with the federal government that we have, under a system that allows for an opposition and see how it goes in the next general election. It's not as if the country is in big trouble the way it is.

THE POLITICS OF THE PRESS
I HAVE heard comments and have read stories about the appointments of some former journalists and the redeployment of others following a major mainstream press appointment recently. I know most of those involved, having worked for the NSTP Group for 16 years, either as their colleagues or supervisors.

But it's best that I do not give my views because some of those involved I count as my friends and any views I have, though strictly from a professional perspective, will most likely be read as something personal in nature. Good-luck to them and best wishes to Umno's continued tinkling with its media set-up. One general observation though: you can't say you are allowing your press to be managed and edited professionally when the appointments are the choices of the political leadership. No way an editor so chosen can hope to stay politically neutral.