Chin Huat's take on PKR's decision on Elizabeth

Ketuanan Parti atau Ketuanan Rakyat? Party or People is supreme? With a name Parti Keadilan Rakyat, it is such a coincidence that the question Chin Huat poses is on whether the party leaders consider the P or R is more important and this rests on K, Keadilan which is Malay for justice. One thing is sure in politics, and that is, they cannot please everybody. Which is why decisions on such a situation have to be based on certain principles and they have to be consistently applied to earn people's trust and approval.

The Nut Graph PKR’s moment of truth (excerpts):
By Wong Chin Huat
editor@thenutgraph.com

PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will face its moment of truth tomorrow, 15 April 2009. The party will decide whether it will accept Selangor executive councillor (exco) Elizabeth Wong's offer of resignation following the distribution of intimate photos of her.

Wong has done the honourable thing by offering her party a choice about whether to retain her services or not. PKR's choice would not only signal its electoral strategy; more importantly, it would indicate the party's political belief on two important questions.

If PKR accepted Wong's resignation, it would be sending the message, loud and clear, that while ordinary citizens are entitled to privacy, public figures, especially public office bearers, are not. They are condemned to live with Big Brother or in Truman's
world if they cannot avoid the camera or afford the protection of police and intelligence services.

Wong has proven her worthiness not only to Bukit Lanjan as its state assemblyperson, but also to many more bukits within Selangor as the exco in charge of environment. She is not a mediocre politician.

Neither has she been implicated in any corruption cases. Instead, she might have frustrated many who hoped that corruption would help in the approval process for some hillside projects. And of course, she does not have an aide or bodyguard
implicated in a murder case or for stealing C4 explosives.

The insistence on comparing Wong with other politicians who are charged with or implicated in corruption and power abuse is akin to comparing rape survivors with criminals.

Secondly, if PKR accepts Wong's resignation in a bid to showcase its moral purity, the party is in fact welcoming attempts by just about anyone to expose their representatives' private lives.

The last time I counted, PKR has 71 elected representatives — 31 in parliament and 40 in the state assemblies. If PKR "rewards" what was done to Wong by accepting her resignation, the party is effectively inviting detractors to target all 71 PKR representatives whose private lives will be up for grabs. Can the party be certain that none of its representatives will be the next
"weak link"?

Ketuanan rakyat or parti?
The other political belief PKR would be displaying over its decision on Wong's resignation is an old one in political theory on democracy. Who do elected representatives owe their primary loyalty to? Their own conscience, their party, or the electorate (the people)?

Wong's constituents in Bukit Lanjan have made clear that they want her service. Mind you, they are of different ages, gender, and economic and sociocultural backgrounds. So far, we have not heard anyone calling for her to quit.

And so, the people have spoken, if you like.

Now that Wong has put her party before her own conscience, will her party put the people before itself, or more precisely, before the vested interests of certain quarters in the party?

Malaysians have no doubt that PKR believes in Ketuanan Rakyat over Ketuanan Melayu.

It will be a real test now whether Ketuanan Rakyat will also prevail over Ketuanan Parti.