If criticisms were to be made by such people against Anwar, is Saifuddin going to jump up and attribute it to a devious desire to help the enemy? Is Anwar so infallible that he should not be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, ever? If Saifuddin wants to make a personality cult of Anwar, the God-given leader and a taboo to criticise the cult leader, he can well go ahead but there are countless many Reformasi supporters who are more matured and progressive in their thinking and consequently have refused to make Anwar the indispensable figure of Reformasi. In this day and age, no attitude is more corruptive than the belief that any particular individual is indispensable to a cause. Saifuddin needs some catching up to do in his political beliefs.
by Goh Soon Sin via e-mail
Judging by Saifuddin Nasution's response, the criticism that Anwar Ibrahim is a liability to the opposition seems to have hit a raw nerve.
Usually what may account for such defensiveness and overreaction, as displayed by Saifuddin, is the harrowing closeness of the criticism or accusation to the truth.
In his eagerness to defend his boss, his apparent message is that Anwar should never be the subject of any criticism. Such a criticism, in his eyes, can have at its core nothing other than the impure motive of giving support and succour to his party's adversaries.
Well, I have news for Saifuddin. He should not try to equate one harsh word against Anwar to criticisms against Reformasi. There are probably millions out here who support and want to see genuine change and reforms take place in this beloved country and yet are not enamoured by Anwar Ibrahim in any way. This may well include PAS and DAP people in their thousands who are just subscribing to the current party policies as set by their leadership in the struggle against a common foe.
If criticisms were to be made by such people against Anwar, is Saifuddin going to jump up and attribute it to a devious desire to help the enemy? Is Anwar so infallible that he should not be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, ever? If Saifuddin wants to make a personality cult of Anwar, the God-given leader and a taboo to criticise the cult leader, he can well go ahead but there are countless many Reformasi supporters who are more matured and progressive in their thinking and consequently have refused to make Anwar the indispensable figure of Reformasi. In this day and age, no attitude is more corruptive than the belief that any particular individual is indispensable to a cause. Saifuddin needs some catching up to do in his political beliefs.
All things considered, is it after all such an outrageously unreasonable thing to say that Anwar is proving to be a liability to the opposition and the struggle to reform this country?
His time, energy and attention are bogged down by his sodomy trial which has been very prolonged due in many instances to requests from his own counsel.
Recent disclosures from the trial, putting aside the alleged sexual improprieties, have raised reasonable questions about his judiciousness in choosing those individuals who worked closely with him.
During the PKR party elections, which to many observers were a shambles, he was not only a de facto leader, he was also largely an in absentia one. And that probably accentuated the difficulties the party was having in managing the process.
During the Selangor state secretary controversy, save for one PAS-organised public rally in which he spoke, Anwar was distinctive by his silence and aloofness from the whole thing even though Selangor is the one state led by his party.
It's a long walk to freedom, as Mandela said. And the last thing we want in that walk is excess baggage in the form of a cult leader.
GOH SOON SIN
