In the context of Pakatan Rakyat, we can be one big extended family!
Here we go again, the debate on nepotism in politics. To put it briefly, I am not against nepotism per se, but nepotism in which a political leader makes full use of his position to reward his immediate family with positions of power and privilege, AND openly abusing those powers to enrich themselves without fear of prosecution.
I am prompted to write on this (not the first time, not that it matters to anyone), after reading the following article in the NST:
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia would likely create a significant record as its cabinet would probably comprise family members should the opposition take over Putrajaya in the next general election.
Anuar Shaari, the former private secretary to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said never in Malaysian history had a father, a wife and a daughter sat in the cabinet under one tenure.
He said this would be the case should the opposition defeat Barisan Nasional.
"Anwar will create a world record for the country when he, (wife, PKR president) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and (daughter, PKR vice-president Nurul) Izzah are in the cabinet at the same time if the opposition win the general election."
Read more: Ex-aide: Anwar may set nepotism record - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/ex-aide-anwar-may-set-nepotism-record-1.153613?cache=03%3Fpage%3D0%3Fpage%3D0%3Fkey%3DKualaLumpur%2F7.201095%2F7.204143%3Fkey%3DMalaysia%3Fpage%3D0#ixzz28fx8jcKp
The big difference between nepotism in Barisan Nasional and the opposition leaders:
Barisan leaders are known to have rewarded their spouses or immediate family members with lucrative contracts. Nominees were used but more blatant using family members recently, because of their mindset which considers such decisions as not corruption!
In the case of opposition leaders like Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh, all three were incarcerated before, for standing up against the ruling party.
Anwar's daughter, Nurul Izzah had the misfortune of seeing her father arrested and later jailed. Dr. Wan Azizah and Nurul Izzah (then only 17) had to fight the injustice when they were least prepared. Anwar was assaulted by then IGP who did not have the courage to own up, and even PM Dr. Mahathir had the cheek to claim it could have been self-inflicted.
Lim Kit Siang's son, Lim Guan Eng, was even jailed for defending an under-aged Malay girl against the might of then Chief Minister of Malacca. But the most incredible thing happened: after his release from prison, DAP routed Gerakan from Penang in the last General Election, and he became Chief Minister! He introduced a more transparent form of administration which withstood continual harassment and allegations of corruption by his political opponents, helped by a bias mainstream media.
Karpal Singh is best known for taking up cases to defend those helpless against unfair actions by the government. He and Lim Kit Siang have been so long in the DAP, that they are synonymous with the party. He is also known as 'Tiger of Jelutong', now into his fifth term as MP. That his two sons, Jagdeep (Penang state assemblyman for Datuk Keramat) and Gobind (MP for Puchong, Selangor) followed his footsteps into politics was a blessing for all fair-minded Malaysians.
All three opposition elders have proven their commitment to change Malaysia for the better. The road was and is full of obstacles and involved personal and familial sacrifices. That critics could equate their kind of cronyism with that of BN, to me, is most disappointing.
If Pakatan Rakyat were to win the next GE, and assuming all the three families have their immediate family members in the cabinet or other important positions, they have to walk the talk about accountability and transparency. In other words, they have to avoid any possible conflict of interest when carrying out their duties, and not to enrich themselves using the powers vested in their positions. So unless and until they can be proven to be as bad as BN leaders, what is wrong with having them running the country? In the same way they are given the mandate by the people, they will be given the boot once proven to be inefficient and corrupted.
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