3 June, 2008
BY KARIM RASLAN, THE STAR
With Mohamad Ezam’s departure, the remaining Reformasi ‘war horses’ – Azmin Ali and Saifuddin Nasution – have assumed greater importance.
FROM the onset of Reformasi in 1998, Anwar Ibrahim’s cause has been championed principally by his wife Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as well as a tightly-knit group of loyal aides – most notably a trio comprising Mohamad Ezam Mohd Noor, Azmin Ali and Saifuddin Nasution – all of whom were ex-Umno members of varying degrees of seniority and promise.
Each of them has suffered for their political choices – Ezam, for example, was detained under the ISA, and Azmin has faced countless legal charges.
Over the past decade relations among the three men, and indeed with Anwar himself, have undergone various stresses and strains.
For example, in the aftermath of the 2004 polls, Saifuddin stepped away from active involvement in PKR to take up a prized NGO position with the PAS government in Kelantan that allowed him privileged access to that party’s inner workings.
Of course the most notable ‘refusenik’ has been Ezam, who’s presence alongside Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last week has provided a major boost to Umno’s flagging fortunes.
It is also a timely reminder that two can play at the “cross-over” game, and that historically the Barisan Nasional has been more adept at “winning over” such support.
Ezam’s move refocuses attention on PKR’s internal dynamics and especially the second tier of Malay leaders such as Azmin and Saifuddin. Why are they important?
While the party is avowedly multi-racial, its core support base is Malay, and this “constituency” needs to be constantly maintained and managed by loyal and committed lieutenants, especially as Anwar charts his ambitious multi-racial agenda.
If PKR wishes to grow its cadre of Malay leaders like Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, it needs to keep its pre-existing, Reformasi era “storm-troopers” like Azmin and Saifuddin in place.
So, with Ezam’s departure, the remaining Reformasi “war horses” – Azmin and Saifuddin – have assumed greater importance, especially given Azmin’s alleged role in Ezam’s withdrawal last year.
Unsurprisingly, Anwar responded almost immediately by taking steps to secure Saifuddin’s increased commitment to the party at around the same time, culminating in a carefully stage-managed return and a standing ovation for the recently elected Machang MP during the 2007 PKR congress in Seremban.
Saifuddin was subsequently appointed the party’s Director of Strategy thereby helping to minimise the impact of Ezam’s withdrawal.
While both men are Singapore-born, no one would ever think of bracketing them together.
Azmin and Saifuddin are an exercise in contrasts – the first an urban sophisticate, the second more a “kampung” firebrand. However, this divide reflects the reality of Malay political thought and expression.
Azmin, is a suave, American-educated mathematician and economist with a Klang Valley sensibility.
In spite of the extraordinary political turbulence he has lived through, he remains calm, analytical and supremely calculating – all aspects of his personality that have in turn made him both indispensable to Anwar and deeply loathed by those who resent his proximity to the PKR’s all-powerful advisor, though there are people who feel that his influence is more apparent than real.
Still, Azmin’s superb organisational and managerial skills have been invaluable in unlocking PKR’s capabilities across the board, especially in the run-up to the 2008 polls. Much of the party’s ingenious use of IT, software and mobile telephony is attributable to Azmin.
Having entered the working world as Anwar Ibrahim’s special officer (and later his ultimate gate-keeper) when only 23, Azmin’s subsequent ejection from the embrace of the Umno/Malay elite had clearly been a defining and deeply wounding experience.
When asked about how he views the world that he had been so ignominiously cast out of, Azmin replies coolly: “The entire system is rotten. I can forgive Dr Mahathir Mohamad but I can never forget what happened to me. We will be a better government, not a bitter one.”
It’s a phrase he repeats a few times.
“We’ve had to face intimidation and harassment all the way. We promise that when we get to Putrajaya the first step will be to reform and remove all those draconian laws,” he said.
“It’s not been easy for us. But now you can see a major shift from the Barisan to the Pakatan. The younger generation has the moral courage to act. I believe we are moving beyond race.
“Take our work on the New Economic Policy. At first there was resistance. But it’s been a steady process until we reached the Malaysian Economic Agenda. We’ve acknowledged the good the NEP has done in the past – especially with education – but argued that it’s no longer relevant.
“We need a new set of policies to protect the Malays and look after the other races. The Barisan’s biggest failure has been in not forming a Malaysian identity.”
Saifuddin, with his grass-roots earthiness and “ceramah” style, clearly lacks Azmin’s polish and elite poise. However, appearances are deceptive.
Intellectually and ideologically, Saifuddin is clearly the more agile of the two men, indicative perhaps of the greater length of time he’s spent in active politics over the past decades.
Similarly, Saifuddin is all too aware of the unusual and sometimes contradictory twists and turns in his political career – student politics, Umno Youth secretary-general, Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet) demonstration, Reformasi activist, founding member of Keadilan, Lunas state assemblyman, a flirtation with PAS through his appointment to Yayasan Tok Kenali and thence back to PKR.
Still he has nonetheless managed to create an underlying political rationale for his travails.
“I’ve always been motivated by socio-economic injustice and disparities. When I was at Umno Youth we saw ourselves as the catalyst for Reformasi,” he said.
“Similarly when I joined Yayasan Tok Kenali at the express invitation of Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz (Nik Mat) we focused on social welfare, training and community development programmes, working closely with Husam Musa. I was also part of the Committee that helped draft the state budget.”
He is suitably contrite over his past brutish behaviour when he disrupted Apcet in the mid 90s, long before his conversion to the civil rights agenda during Reformasi.
“It’s a black mark against me,” he conceded. “Certainly the civil society groups had a hard time accepting me until I apologised for what I did, in front of both (Timor Leste President Jose) Ramos-Horta and (Prime Minister) Xanana Gusmao.
“Now, I’d say I enjoy a good working relationship with people like (fellow PKR leaders Batu MP) Tian Chua and (Subang MP R.) Sivarasa.
“Our PKR internal meetings are very testing. We meet two to three times a week and it really stretches your skills and articulation.
“I find that this is what I cherish most. We have to confront issues, whereas with the Barisan it’s been the politics of jaga hati for too long.”
As Pakatan and Barisan slug it out over the next few months, Anwar will be depending more and more on his second tier leaders to implement his over-arching, macro ideas.
I have a sense that with battle hardened political operatives such as Azmin and Saifuddin to draw on he will be well placed to move forward.
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