GEORGE TOWN – A former PKR loyalist and “reformasi” veteran who is contesting in the 15th general election (GE15) under Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) ticket has attributed excessive party politicking as a key factor that drove several PKR leaders away from the party.
Datuk Mansor Othman, former Penang PKR chairman and state deputy chief minister, said the move to label individuals who joined other platforms to maintain their political survival as its traitors and betrayers is just part of a political gimmick.
“In truth, PKR in itself was a party choking with too much politics of its own,” he said when met by The Vibes at a formal event to announce PN’s GE15 candidates in the state here yesterday.
Mansor was a close confidant of PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim around the time when he was sacked from Umno and as deputy prime minister in 1998.
Mansor is slated to defend his Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat which he first won in 2013 with PKR.
He lamented that its party politics is so overdone and inordinate that it has eroded the main purpose of serving the people, which is what electoral politics should be about.
A general election is called every five years to let people have a say in how this country should be managed in the best democratic sense, he said.
“Ideally, we conduct our politics once every five years and then get on with serving our constituents and the country,” he said.
“But we are kept busy politicking daily just because of party politics. There is no end and I fear that people have become nonchalant.”
This is his main reason to join PN through Bersatu, which he said provides him a last chance to serve the people.
He also brushed aside concerns about his age and his recent poor health.
“I am already 71, yes, but people in their 90s also want to serve. So age is relative.”
Mansor said that he would like to remain on good terms with his former PKR comrades, but the party politics were too overbearing for him personally.
He believes in healthy competition among political foes because the rakyat would benefit.
“It keeps politicians on their toes. There are checks and balances. So having three coalitions in this election, or even more, that is good for Malaysia.”
He views new coalitions as the way forward for Malaysian politics, as the upcoming election will prove.
Earlier at the event, PN vice-president and Gerakan president Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said that PN offers a coalition that focuses on providing stability through non-corruption.
PN also has experience in governance as it led the country through the darkest of times during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. – The Vibes, November 4, 2022
