The crux of the problem

When the opposition parties were in the opposition, both at Federal and State levels, aspiring people's representatives worked hard to convince their leaders for an opportunity to stand for election. Being a first-timer, not much thought about what to expect, some stood and won as State Assemblymen, some even as Members of Parliament. The initial euphoria soon dissipated when they were expected to work hard, within limited personal budgets and without development funds from the government.

It was not a problem to those who were really committed to the opposition cause of ensuring the ruling coalition keep to proper administration. It was mainly finding faults with Barisan Nasional, each outdoing the other in exposing questionable and even corrupt deals.

Generally, standing for a state seat comes as a first test of popularity in the elections, before taking on a parliamentary seat, though there are exceptions of first timers given to stand for the latter and became highly successful in their roles as MPs.

The 12th General Election which saw Pakatan taking unprecedented control of 5 states brought with it new problems, particularly for PKR and DAP. They were taken by surprise at the huge success and were faced with finding the right people to be executive councillors in the state assemblies. PKR was particularly weak in terms of the calibre of some of their successful candidates who are now MPs and ADUNs, some of the latter even become Exco members.

By now, the more senior MPs seemed to be losing out to some new ADUNs who became State Exco members with positions, power and perks like official cars and drivers. Because Pakatan MPs are in the opposition at federal level, the development funds for their respective constituencies are still controlled by the federal government, so they continued under trying circumstances.

I believe this is the crux of the problem facing Selangor PKR, especially with allegations of MPs going against the Menteri Besar. By right, it is up to the ADUNs to decide on state matters, though some MPs are wearing Adun hats as well. There must be a certain order in any party, otherwise it will be chaotic. Decisions by leaders must be abided. Some supporters have made known that if indeed there were MPs planning revolt, they should join Umno for immediate gain instead of upsetting long term objectives. At least, the spring cleaning will do the party a lot of good.

For the coming general election, candidates should not only agree not to jump ship (even if not enforceable), but decide for sure whether they want parliamentary or state seats. They should know that unless there is a chance to form the federal government, MPs will remain as they are without any chance of ministerial positions. As it is, the chances of becoming a state exco member seem better than a federal minister's post.
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