‘Cold fish’ feels the heat

ANALYSIS By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY
baradan@pc.jaring.my

There is little chance of reconciliation between the Penang Chief Minister, who takes pride in bringing logic and rationalism to politics, and his detractors in the PKR.

DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is in the spotlight along with Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but for radically different reasons.

While Anwar, who is charged with sodomy, is fighting for his political life, Guan Eng is under attack from PKR MPs in Penang and elsewhere for alleged arrogance, ignoring political allies and running Penang as his personal fiefdom.

Former PKR state chief Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim opened the floodgates, famously calling Guan Eng “a dictator, a chauvinist and a communist-minded leader”, and unfit to lead the state.

Zahrain was joined by Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, who comes from solid Gerakan stock and joined PKR in 2008.

Tan alleged that Guan Eng does not share decision-making, does not consult others, including DAP leaders, and has “no class”, whatever that means.

A third PKR MP, Noordin Zulkifli, then entered the fray, lending support to what the other two MPs said.

The DAP, on its part, sees the vitriolic attacks as part of a wider plot to dethrone Guan Eng, break up the Pakatan coalition and possibly recapture Penang.

Personally, Guan Eng, the prime target of the criticism, has not opened up against his allies.

His response is muted and confined to dismissing the accusations as false and painting the critics as “frustrated” people who, while with PKR, had their hearts more with Umno.

The PKR has referred the three MPs to the party’s disciplinary committee but there is no nerve among the leadership — all focused on the sodomy danger to the chief — to court more problem by decisively acting against the them.

As a result, reconciliation seems impossible after such an open breach of Pakatan discipline and failure to maintain etiquette between allies and partners.

“It is quite obvious all three are prepared to burn their bridges with the PKR and Pakatan Rakyat,” said a DAP leader.

“There is no more reconciliation with them … absolutely zero!

“Our party members will not allow it … They will rebel if we embrace them again, not after what they have said and done,” the leader said.

The core of the criticism is Guan Eng’s ability to run a complex and economically developed state like Penang, and his alleged domineering style and unwillingness to share power with allies.

Guan Eng brings a lot of experience to his job but unfortunately, much of it is as a committed opposition rabble-rouser who was suddenly alleviated to high power, not because of anything he achieved but because of what Barisan Nasional did or did not do.

The euphoria of sudden and unexpected victory has easily covered the scars - personal and party as well.

The public also saw the unexpected winners as heroes and were forgiving and ready to overlook the warts.

Power and high office did not sit comfortably on some of the new leaders that the 2008 political tsunami threw up.

For all his dedication and single-minded pursuit of his CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) principles in administration, Guan Eng lacks the warmth and humanism of the elder Lim (Kit Siang) and others like Dr Chen Man Hin enjoy, both in the party and society.

The Kampung Buah Pala crisis was also an example of the lack of humanism.

While Lim and Dr Chen are loved, Guan Eng is feared, DAP insiders say.

“Guan Eng is a coldly efficient leader,” they said.

“He takes great pride in logic, rationalism and being correct and accurate all the time. Once his mind is made up, it is unshakable.

“He brings cold mathematics to politics,” said a former DAP leader.

“The heart, warmth and humanism are all lacking. That’s why he is feared, because he is too efficient.”

Guan Eng, an accountant and former bank executive, started his political career under pressure. He had an illustrious father in the elder Lim to match up to.

He was only 26 when he was elected Kota Melaka MP, defeating the nationally famous football captain Soh Chin Aun with a huge majority of 17,606 votes.

Ops Lalang saw him detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for 18 months from October 1987.

In 1990 and 1995, he was easily returned as Kota Melaka MP but could not shake off his “cold fish” image.

Charged under the Sedition Act the same year, he was jailed for 18 months for criticising the handling of a statutory rape charge against a former chief minister.

The rigours of the Kajang Prison were a far cry from ISA detention.

“He was tough, hard and focused, and he survived,” a former inmate who befriended Guan Eng in jail said. “He did not break.”

Released 12 months later, a bitter Guan Eng had to sit out the 1999 and 2004 general elections because of the five-year bar against convicted persons from contesting.

He made a sterling comeback back in 2008, winning the Bagan parliamentary seat and Air Putih state seat, and made history by being made Pakatan’s Chief Minister for Penang.

The problem is, a DAP insider said, he sees himself as the DAP Chief Minister and not the Pakatan.

“He has also set a very high standard for himself, his party colleagues and allies.”

It is a level of commitment that many allies and colleagues are either unable or unwilling to match.