Kerajaan Perpaduan--hentikanlah

Konflik pemikiran yang berlegar isu kerajaan perpaduan masih belum reda. Ia dikaitkan pula dengan isu perbincangan sulit PAS-UMNO sejurus pilihanraya umum 2008. Juga dikaitkan isu muzakarah-muqabalah. Serta turut membabitkan polemik lama ulama'-profesional. Lebih buruk lagi isu ini digambarkan sebagai pertembungan antara kumpulan Erdogan dan pro-muzakarah, antara Nik Aziz dan Haji Hadi.

Saya faham niat murni Presiden PAS yang melontarkan idea KP ini. Memang tak salah dan ada kesan positifnya. Tapi melihat kepada respon dan reaksi yang berlaku, eloklah perkara ini ditutup terus. Banyak yang negatif dari positif.

Sebenarnya Presiden PAS dah pun menutup isu ini seperti disiarkan dalam HARAKAH dengan buka depan yang nampak garang "TARIK BALIK!". Tapi nampaknya ia masih bermain-main di sana-sini. Yang menggerakkan isu ini akhir-akhir ini ialah UMNO dan media UMNO.

Nampaknya Presiden perlu buat kenyataan lebih tegas: TIADA KERAJAAN PERPADUAN. TIADA KERJASAMA DENGAN UMNO. TUMPU USAHA AMBIL ALIH KERAJAAN BN MELALUI PAKATAN RAKYAT.

Tindakan perlu segera agar kerosakannya dapat diminimakan. Dibawah ni maklumat menarik dari Tay Tian Yan:

PAS has offerd the concept of unity government, which has received positive responses from UMNO.

However, is there a need for this unity government at all? Does Malaysia really need a unity government?

There are only two circumstances where a coalition government should exist.

First, when none of the parties get more than half of all the seats.

Continental Europe boasts a tradition of multi-party politics, and often no single parties can win more than half of the seats.

Under the principle of power sharing, political parties with quite similar directions would work towards a coalition government, and their supporters will generally accept such an eventuality.

In France, leftist and rightist parties take turns to form the government. The leftist coalition is normally established between the Socialist Party, Radical Party, Green Party and the Communist Party.

As for the rightists, we have the coalition government of the Union for a Popular Movement and the New Centrist Party.

Countries inheriting the British parliamentary system are no strangers to coalition governments either, such as India.

If the Indian National Congress (INC) wins the biggest number of seats, it will team up with other parties operating on secular lines; If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the lead, it will then pair up with Hindu sects and nationalist parties to form a coalition.

Back in Malaysia, BN today controls far more than half of all the parliamentary seats. UMNO is firmly in power and the government is not at any risk of being toppled.

Given such a scenario, do you think there is a need for a unity government?

With power resources within BN hardly enough to be distributed among its many component parties, do you still think it will share some with PAS?

Moreover, UMNO and PAS are embracing very different political ideologies, and their supporters were fighting hard with each other during the elections.

Voters, too, have their own preferences.

With such a large gap lying between them, how can the two camps be brought together by force simply because of the weird intentions of a handful of leaders?

The second scenario under which a coalition government is a must is when a major crisis hits.

Britain was facing the serious issue of national survival during the first and second world wars. Political parties had to set aside their differences to cherish a war-time coalition government.

At the end of the war, fresh elections were held, and political parties reverted to stiff competition.

Malaysia is under no major threats today, and the administration is running pretty smoothly. There isn't any urgent need for a unity government.

PAS prospers on largely the same turf as UMNO, i.e. Islamic Malay community, It is therefore destined that this party will have to compete, not partner, with UMNO for survival.

Otherwise, it will be engulfed by UMNO by the sheer size of the latter.

And if it is meant to unite Muslims and safeguard the interests of Malays, then what has been proposed may not conform to the realistic political environment here.

The status of Malays is very solid today. No other communities can, or intend to, challenge the superiority of the Malay society. It is therefore unnecessary for Hadi Awang and Nasharuddin Mat Isa to be overly worried.

PAS and Pakatan Rakyat have their own domains of survival, as well as chances of forming their own government in the future. It is not necessary for them to tread upon political wild frontiers, less so to betray their pledges towards their supporters and voters. 

(By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)