Malaysia: PSM National Congress discusses on future with Pakatan coalition

Thursday 4 July 2013, by LAKSHANA Meena, PRAGALATH K., THAYAPARAN S

Pakatan Rakyat (Malaysia)

Contents

PSM to take stock of Pakatan ties at annual congress (FZ.com)

First Published: 12:30pm, Jun 28, 2013
Last Updated: 12:30pm, Jun 28, 2013

by Meena Lakshana

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan said the party needs to consolidate post-GE13 and this includes reviewing its partnership with Pakatan.

PETALING JAYA (June 28): Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) annual congress this weekend, which is being held in Cameron Highlands, will see the party taking a long, hard look at its relationship with Pakatan Rakyat following the 13^th general election.

PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said the party needs to consolidate its position post GE13, and this includes re-examining its partnership with the opposition coalition, which the party sees as an ally.

“A total of eight motions will be discussed. Some of the main issues are PSM’s relationship with Pakatan, rebranding of PSM, the general elections and membership,” he said.

Arutchelvan, who had contested in the Semenyih state seat and lost, had expressed disappointment over Pakatan’s handling of the elections, especially over picking of candidates and for running roughshod over PSM.

First, Pakatan had placed its candidates in the three seats PSM was contesting - the Jelapang state seat in Perak (contested and lost by PSM’s M Sarasvathy) and the Kota Damansara (contested by PSM chairperson Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim) as well as the Semenyih state seats in Selangor.

This created multi-cornered fights, resulting in Barisan Nasional (BN) winning the two state seats in Selangor.

Then, Pakatan had arm-twisted PSM into contesting on the logo of any of its three components, which Nasir and Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency candidate Dr Michael Jayakumar had agreed to. (Jeyakumar managed to retain the seat and is now PSM’s sole representative in the political arena.)

PAS members had also sabotaged PSM’s campaign in Kota Damansara, shouting at PSM volunteers for allegedly removing PAS flags in the area.
Then there is the rejection of PSM’s request to be part of Pakatan, as stated by PKR secretary general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Some Pakatan leaders however, notably DAP national chairman Karpal Singh and Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Khalid Samad, had supported PSM’s application to be part of Pakatan.

All this had led to members questioning PSM’s relationship with Pakatan, and whether it was truly benefiting the party.

While it remains to be seen what PSM’s decision on its relationship with Pakatan is to be in the future, Arutchelvan told fz.com that it was not the only concern that party will be dealing with at their congress.

A possible rebranding of the party may be on the cards, besides looking at ways to expand its membership.

He had said there were many leftist groups in the country which had expressed interest in joining the party.

Arutchelvan had also commented that there was discussion among members about building a third force in the political landscape, and said this will be discussed at the congress.

The congress this weekend will also see party elections.

Arutchelvan said all posts in the party had been up for grabs, but a few candidates had withdrawn from the contest, resulting in Nasir, Arutchelvan and A. Sivarajan retaining the posts of chairperson, secretary general and treasurer respectively.

“A total of 27 candidates will contest for nine positions in the central committee. Other posts include the disciplinary and audit committees,” he added.

The party’s 15^th annual congress, which ends on Sunday, will promise interesting debates on the external and internal power dynamics of the party and the way ahead for the party.

PSM to review ties with Pakatan at AGM (Mkini)

8:04AM Jun 28, 2013

Delegates at today’s annual general meeting of Parti Sosialis Malaysia are expected to thrash out the party’s direction following its mixed results in GE13.

Secretary-general S Arutchelvan said delegates are also likely to examine the party’s relationship with the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

PSM was involved with three multi-cornered contests with PAS and PKR in Selangor and with DAP in Perak in the May 5 general election.

Arutchelvan (right) said the party would also be exploring ways to re-brand itself following the post-GE13 scenario and the socialist world after the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

This year, the three-day meeting is held in Cameron Highlands involving 300 delegates, including those from Sabah and Sarawak.

Most sessions will be closed to the press but party leaders are expected to issue statements every evening.
Party polls

Party elections will also be held. All positions are open for contest, except the posts of president and secretary-general, which have been won uncontested by Dr Nasir Hashim and Arutchelvan respectively.

It had been reported earlier that Pakatan had set-up a panel to discuss PSM’s application to join the opposition group, despite PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution’s insistence that there is no room for PSM in Pakatan.

The opposition to PSM’s entry stems from its clenched-fist party logo and its socialist ideology. However, PSM and PAS have had formal talks earlier this month.

Arutchelvan said PKR vice-president Tian Chua has confirmed that he would represent his party at the event, while local DAP and PAS representations have also confirmed their participation.

Pakatan backstabbed us, says PSM chief (Mkini)

5:28PM Jun 28, 2013

Parti Sosialis Malaysia in assessing the 13^th general election said its opposition allies had “backstabbed” them even though they fought a common enemy.

“True, we faced problems especially when our own friend betrayed and backstabbed us, even though we did not see them as the main enemy.

“Instead, we were trampled on, and still we tried to compromise (on the needs of the rakyat and on gaining Pakatan’s much needed support to win) with the hope that we can all unite,” said PSM national president Nasir Hashim (left) in his speech at the party’s annual general meeting today.

“We were bullied, promises to us were broken, and tackling our problems took a back seat as everyone was concerned with their own (political) well-being, and so on.

He described PSM’s relations with Pakatan as a “mess” in the run-up to the hotly contested polls, even though it was good elsewhere when both fought for common goals against injustice and abuse.

PSM ran into seat allocation problems with its Pakatan partners well past nomination day in the last general election, and even as the candidacy of Nasir for the Kota Damansara seat under the PKR banner was finally ironed out, PAS’s candidate continued to run against him, causing both to lose the seat to BN.

Nasir said we realised the fact that PSM entered the elections without the strength and was hoping for a one-on-one contest and also the Pakatan votes to ensure victory.

“As a result of the obstacles and sabotage, we were left alone (in this election) in the face of our enemies in Pakatan and also BN. They took the opportunity to exploit this as had happened in Kota Damansara, where PAS saied they expected to win with the support of PKR and Umno.

“Despite this, PAS was not successful and it only resulted in splitting the votes and handed the Kota Damansara seat on a silver platter to Umno,” he said, adding that the same story of attack and sabotage happened in Semenyih and Jelapang.

Addressing false perception on socialism

He noted that PSM’s weaknesses is that it cannot alleviate such a false perception that the people have on socialism.

Nasir said we were not able to inculcate and analyse socialism when we were with the people in fighting tyranny and past discrimination.

Going through the evolution of socialism parties in Malaysia, when we had PSRM, PRM then Parti Rakyat, Nasir said this was due to socialist leaders in the past not being aggressive to attack or cancel out all the false allegations on the ideology of socialism.

He said the party should be given new breath, and hence there is a need for a new approach.

Nasir said the ideology of socialism has to take consideration of local surroundings.

“While we see that socialist countries like Cuba and Venezuela have developed, we have to further study whether their ideas there could be adopted to our struggle in Malaysia in the local context,” he said.

PR rapped for ‘back stabbing’ PSM (FMT)

K Pragalath

June 29, 2013

Delegates to the PSM national congress want the opposition pact to stop bullying the party.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) delegates attending the party’s 15^th national congress, here, vented their anger against Pakatan Rakyat, which they claimed had bullied PSM at the just concluded 13^th general election.

The bullying act involved having multi-cornered fights in seats contested by PSM and prohibiting the party from using its white clenched fist logo during the polls.

The delegates spoke their mind at a closed door session of the congress last night while debating PSM chairman Nasir Hashim’s policy address.

In his policy speech Nasir had admitted that PSM had problems with its friends, meaning the opposition pact comprising PAS, DAP and PKR.

“We should maintain relations with Pakatan Rakyat even though they hurt us during GE13,” Nasir had said in his policy speech.

A source said the delegates felt that Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners did not know or understand PSM’s ideology and that was why they were reluctant partners to the party.

“We are bullied by both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat because they don’t understand our ideology,” a delegate told FMT.

Delegates were also critical of the usage of religious institutions like mosques to paint socialism in a bad light.

“Some in the Pakatan Rakyat leadership are the enemy of socialism. However we need to work with them, as this would ensure the downfall of Barisan Nasional ,” another delegate told FMT.

PSM contested two state seats in Selangor — Kota Damansara and Semenyih. It was challenged by Pakatan Rakyat component parties in both the seats.
In also faced a similar situation in the Jelapang state seat in Perak.

Sources also reveal that a delegate was jeered off the stage when he suggested that PSM hedl more meetings with Pakatan Rakyat leadership.

PSM to decide on future with Pakatan coalition during its national congress

Published: Saturday June 29, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday June 29, 2013 MYT 9:35:51 AM

By FLORENCE A. SAMY
florenceasamy thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is expected to decide on the future of its relationship with Pakatan Rakyat during its ongoing national congress.

Party president Dr Nasir Hashim. in his opening address yesterday, admitted that their relationship with Pakatan was in shambles during the 13^th general election.

“We were bullied; promises were broken; there was slow response to solving our problems; some were concerned with their own positions; and so forth.

“This happened when we were not strong in terms of membership and solid support, thus we relied a lot on Pakatan members to gain victory in the elections.

“As friends of Pakatan, we were willing to compromise to make it easier for them to head to Putrajaya. However, they looked down on our actions and see us as weak,” he said on the first day of the three-day congress.

The 15^th national congress will be attended by some 300 delegates and observers.

Dr Nasir, who spoke about the party’s struggles during the elections, said some supporters had suggested that PSM build a “third force”.

He also hit out at those who accused PSM of not lending a helping hand when Pakatan candidates lost, adding that they failed to mention the alleged “open sabotage and silent conspiracy” against PSM candidates which resulted in multi-cornered fights.

PSM had faced multi-cornered fights for the Kota Damansara and Semenyih state seats, including from PAS and PKR candidates.

The eight motions to be debated during the congress includes whether PSM should work with Pakatan or build a “third force”, the rebranding of PSM, the elections, socialism in the 21^st century and party membership.

PSM wants ’mutual respect’ (NST)

IPOH: The love-hate relationship between Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and the opposition coalition looks likely to continue, at least for the time being.
This was after delegates at PSM’s 15^th national congress in Cameron Highlands endorsed a resolution for it to continue having dialogue with Pakatan on its relationship with the loose opposition coalition.

In his opening address at the congress on Friday, PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim admitted that their relationship with Pakatan was in shambles during the general election on May 5.

When contacted yesterday, party secretary-general S. Arutchelvan said the party was ready for future dialogue but this had to be based on mutual respect.

He said this was the consensus reached by the 300 delegates on the resolution on Saturday night. “PSM has not closed its doors on future dialogue with the Pakatan leadership. The ball now is in their court.”

Arutchelvan also said the party was waiting for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s next move following his recent statement that PSM was welcome to join Pakatan on condition that the party endorsed the opposition pact’s common policy platform.

However, Anwar’s statement contradicted that of PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution who had earlier stated that Pakatan would not be accepting PSM.

Arutchelvan, who retained his party post unopposed at the party’s congress, said PSM would only decide on its next course of action after the dialogue had taken place.

He said that his party’s dialogue with Pas on June 18 had yielded “quite positive results”.

On another matter, Arutchelvan said the party’s delegates had also endorsed a resolution calling for PSM to use its own emblem in the next general election.

PSM had sought to use its white fist emblem in the May general election, but did not get the consent from Pakatan’s leadership, resulting in its candidates contesting under the PKR banner.

PSM’s Arul to step down in 2015

First Published: 8:11pm, Jun 30, 2013
Last Updated: 8:11pm, Jun 30, 2013

by Meena Lakshana
FZ.COM FILEPIX

Arul said today he will step down in 2015 in order to pave the way for young people to lead the party.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS (June 30): Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan said today he will step down in 2015 in order to pave the way for young people to lead the party.

“I have already decided 2015 will be my end term. I am open to people taking over,” he said after PSM’s 15^th Annual Congress here.

He said based on previous discussions within the party in 2008, the leadership had proposed a two-term limit spanning four years for office bearers.

“But the members had insisted that office bearers hold their position for five terms, or 10 years,” he added.

Arutchelvan has served as the party’s secretary-general since 1998.

At the congress this year, he was elected without contest due to the withdrawal of other candidates. Arutchelvan said the party hopes to cultivate future leaders among its youth wing, helmed by 28 year-old KS Bawani, which is in need of members.

“We are giving her two years to build the youth wing,” he said, pointing out that she would not be able to be nominated for the position once she turns 30-years old.

PSM resolves to build left movement, open to discussing ties with Pakatan (FZ.com)

First Published: 7:22pm, Jun 30, 2013
Last Updated: 7:22pm, Jun 30, 2013

by Meena Lakshana

CAMERON HIGHLANDS (June 30): Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has resolved to build a strong left movement in the country and is still open to discussing its relationship with Pakatan Rakyat.

PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said today the party is of the view that it should focus its energy towards championing issues that affect citizens and working with other leftist groups.

“We feel the ball is in Pakatan’s court. We have submitted our application (to join Pakatan) to them and they have called us for a dialogue, which we are open to attending,” he said after PSM’s 15^th Annual Congress here.

“As far as we are concerned, we will build a left coalition,” he added. Arutchelvan said PSM is looking to work with Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM).

He said although electoral fraud is a pertinent issue, the people are also facing larger issues, such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), on which PSM is hoping to steer debate and create public awareness.

“These policies are going to impact the people but a lot of them are not aware of it,” he said.

PSM had applied to be part of Pakatan, which it sees as an ally, before the 13^th General Election.

However, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had reportedly said the application was rejected.

Despite this, several Pakatan leaders have openly supported PSM, including DAP chairman Karpal Singh and Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Khalid Samad.

Pakatan had also allegedly sabotaged PSM by placing its candidates in the four constituencies the party had contested in the general election, creating multi-cornered fights.

PSM had contested the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat and the Jelapang state seat in Perak as well as the Kota Damansara and Semenyih state seats in Selangor.

Arutchelvan also said PSM has relaxed its membership policies in an effort to attract more people towards the party’s cause.

“We had a controlled membership. People need to be recommended in order to be our members,” he said.

“But we have decided to open our membership. If the person can embrace class struggle and believe in the basic principles of the party, our doors are open.”We are also working on building another structure in the party, like a people’s solidarity group," he added.

He said this was necessary as the party has a lot of supporters who are not interested in joining political parties.

He also said party leaders would start embracing social media as a way to engage with youths.

PSM to continue talks on joining Pakatan (Mkini)

Ahmad Fadli KC

7:28PM Jun 30, 2013

The Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) 15^th party congress has decided to continue negotiations with Pakatan Rakyat to join the coalition.

“PSM is prepared to continue its dialogue with Pakatan on basis of mutual respect,” the party said on its Twitter account.

The party’s secretary-general S Arutchelvan (right) told Malaysiakini the party’s membership in Pakatan is not in its own hands because it requires the coalition’s approval.

“Therefore we shall continue the negotiations and it (joining Pakatan) is dependent on the results of the negotiation,” he said.

However, he stressed that at the same time, PSM would move to from a “left-wing coalition backed by organisations such as Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), to”fighting neoliberal and capitalist forces".

The three-day congress, which ended today, started on June 28 in Cameron Highlands.

Among other resolutions, it resolved to change its membership system from a controlled membership system to an open membership system.

The same congress also decided that PSM would contest on its own logo in the next general election, having contested on PAS’ and PKR’s tickets in the previous one.

-----------------------------

‘Dialogue option with Pakatan still open’(FMT)

K Pragalath

July 1, 2013

However PSM says that Pakatan should make the initial step.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) would let Pakatan Rakyat decide on the next course of action on its (PSM’s) participation in the alliance as the ball is in their court.

“There is a dialogue. We are open and willing to discuss. The ball is in Pakatan’s court.

“A lot time have been wasted on attempting to know what’s happening with us and Pakatan,” said PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan to journalists at the closing of the party’s 15^th national congress held in Tanah Rata yesterday.

He was commenting on the PSM-Pakatan relations following their outing in the 13^th general election with Pakatan.

Pakatan components had fielded candidates in three out of four seats that PSM contested that resulted in multiple cornered fights. PSM also was not allowed to use their white fist logo in two constituencies.

Arutchelvan said that no dates have been set for the meeting.

He added that PSM would in the meantime concentrate on building the left movement.

“We are committed to build the left movement and we’ll be talking with groups such as Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia and Parti Rakyat Malaysia to consolidate the left movement,” he said.

Arutchelvan also said that PSM would concentrate on bigger issues affecting the people such as Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“These are bigger issues and people are not aware of it,” he said.

The party is also working towards rebranding itself to increase its members.
“Previously the membership was controlled with restrictions. We have opened it.

“As long as you accept class struggle, you can be a member of the party,” he said.

The party is also attempting to build a group structure that would allow more people to join the party.

“It would be something like PAS Supporters Club,” he said.

– See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/07/01/dialogue-option-with-pakatan-still-open/#sthash.IB8nRqRJ.dpuf

PSM and the Goliaths that surround it (Mkini)

S Thayaparan

10:56AM Jul 3, 2013

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

– Hélder Câmara (Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings)

COMMENT Before I get to the business at hand concerning the current Umno religious provocation on the proposed amendment to Section 107(b) of the Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013, I applaud the stand taken by Deputy Minister P Waythamoorthy and all non-Muslim/Malay (BN) component member who have taken a public stand against this duplicitous amendment.

It remains to be seen if Umno is truly interested in engagement with its partners or they are merely window dressing. However of greater importance is the stand of Muslim/Malay members of Pakatan Rakyat (especially PAS), and there should be a clear and united stand against this “law” (one of many, hopefully) which is the antithesis of everything Pakatan stands for.

NONEIf there is, one thing that the political tsunami of 2008 has shown those of us in the oppositional forces in this country is that party candidate trumps “winnable” candidate every time. As PSM’s Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar (left) said in response to my query on the party’s much disputed clenched fist logo: “If it was one to one, pitting the PSM logo against the BN, we would definitely have won Kota Damansara and Jelapang. Probably Semenyih, too, but that would have been close.”The people in these three constituencies would have voted for the clenched fist logo if they were told by Pakatan that the PSM is an integral part of the anti-BN electoral coalition."

Unfortunately, for a principled and much admired party like PSM, this means that all the grassroots level activism and actual work of improving the lives of the disenfranchised takes a back seat to unseating Umno from Putrajaya and the strategic moves for claiming and retaining power of Pakatan.

Oppositional discourse is dominated by the three power brokers of Pakatan - PKR, DAP and PAS - and minority voices are expected to conform or be confined to irrelevancy. PSM, which has never hidden it ideological imperatives, has been in the words of its national president Mohd Nasir Hashim, “backstabbed” by Pakatan.

I asked the indefatigable Nasir, to describe how exactly Pakatan backstabbed PSM and he emailed me a list of underhanded tricks that would make Carl Rove proud and commented: “PAS’ crude campaign surpassed Umno-BN’s style. So unbecoming of PAS.”We were literally on our own and got help from NGO friends. We were not prepared to fight PAS because they are not our principal enemy and our actions were construed as being weak," he said, reflecting on the recently concluded elections.

Five guiding principles

In an email conversation with Jeyakumar, he described the five guiding principles of PSM’s engagement in the electoral process, which is as follows:

1. The PSM decided to participate in the elections because we feel that it is an effective way to popularise the party and to build a name for ourselves. Malaysians are still enamoured with elections - just consider the 80 percent odd turnout for GE13. We also feel that we could portray a different kind of politics, and that participating in the electoral process would give us the opportunity to showcase this.

2. The PSM CC (central committee) felt that we had to ally with Pakatan for several reasons:

Pakatan has a better position on corruption, misuse of power, racial politics and repressive laws as compared with BN. Objectively speaking, it is the better choice for Malaysia;

The mere act of replacing BN with Pakatan would emancipate the people from the widespread belief that change is impossible;

The 53 percent of Malaysians who voted opposition in GE13 represent the groups who the PSM would like to win over to a socialist programme over the next few decades. This 53 percent would have been very disappointed with PSM had we decided to stand in three-cornered contests against the BN and the Pakatan as a matter of strategy.

3. The PSM CC felt that we should stand on our own logo to maintain our independence vis-à-vis Pakatan because we have a different long-term vision for Malaysia and it is important that we are not submerged in the much larger Pakatan. We need to differentiate our “brand” of politics, highlight our rejection of neo-liberalism, etc.

4. The PSM CC felt it would be good to win as many of our seats as possible. This is good for our image. Also good for the morale of the party.

5. The PSM CC felt that all possible efforts should be taken to avoid splits in the party because of electoral tactics. Many Left parties come to grief because of differences in electoral strategy. Party unity we felt, was more important than winning seats.

I found two interesting points about this response. The first being, PSM attempting to differentiate its brand of politics from the mainstream opposition forces of this country and its “long term” goals being “submerged” in the various diverse agendas of Pakatan.

While PSM has never engaged in the confrontational polemics that is the norm of the mainstream opposition entities, preferring instead nuanced arguments and discussion, the reality is that overall there is very little in terms of policies that separates PSM from the mainstream.

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan at bar council forum 1As PSM’s S Arutchelvan (right) acknowledged in a Malaysiakini interview, “Arutchelvan also stressed that many Pakatan’s policies, which are included in the opposition coalition’s manifesto, came from PSM’s early struggles. ‘Issues such as free education and minimum wage, we have brought them up more than five years ago. Pakatan later brought them into its manifesto,’ he said.”

Demise of Malaysian Left

Now, one may disagree with these policies on an ideological level but the reality is that (and I have no idea if my fellow political commenters would agree with me or not) that as far as PKR and DAP are concerned, they are the very definition of neo-liberal political entities. I will leave aside the racial components of these political parties but the fact remains that populist policies as advocated by Pakatan is in tandem with those of PSM.

This idea of ideological dissonance as promulgated by Pakatan in terms of either symbols or policy is ridiculous, when it comes to the short and mid-range aims of the alternative front.

Singling out a principled party like the PSM for online opprobrium by some very vocal online partisans and by some very prominent Pakatan leaders is mendacious and an indication of how Pakatan handles diversity in its coalition, which trumpets itself as the coalition, that is inclusive and acknowledges minority voices.

Concerning the cyber war waged by proxies of the mainstream political coalitions, PSM’s Arutchelvan, has this to say:

“It is extremely difficult to counter paid cybertroopers but it has to be dealt with. The best way is to silence them by showing them the work we have done rather than just arguing a point.”Recently we have discussed on forming a team to deal with these issues raised in the cyber mail, as we need to utilise it and engage with it as much besides training party leaders and members on how to successfully counter some of the arguments. I believe that cyber propaganda is here to stay and PSM has to find ways to deal with it rather than ignore it.“The second point that I found interesting, was the good doctor’s cognisance of”left parties coming to grief over electoral strategies". In one of my earliest pieces, I lamented the demise of the Left in Malaysia by the machinations of Umno or perhaps more accurately the Alliance and subsequently BN.

In subsequent pieces, I argued that the demise of the Left has had a disastrous effect on the Malay community, which left them at the mercy of either a right-wing monolith like Umno or the religious preoccupations of PAS.

Indeed, I was amused at Hadi Awang’s “communist” potshot at PSM considering PAS’ history of assimilating socialists’ philosophies in it religious struggles. That strain of Leftist thought that manifested in PAS’ support of workers unions and engagement with Leftist parties seems like most things in this country conveniently forgotten in an attempt to replicate the Umno success in maintaining hegemony through distortion of history and the destruction of other political perspectives.

NONEI have no idea if PSM continued engagement with Pakatan would bear fruit. As Nasir (right), explains: “We may not be interested to be of equal footing with Pakatan and wish to work on different ground rules whereby power comes from below and not to flirt with capitalist tendencies.”Our role is to empower the rakyat and to counter poisoned mindsets on race, religion, elitist tendencies and against ‘berkiblat kepada penindasan dan pertuhankan kepada peuntungan’."

If PSM is allowed to grow, there is a possibility that class-consciousness would eventually seep into rural communities, especially rural Malay communities that hold the keys to Putrajaya. Harnessing this potential should be one of the avenues explored by the alternative front.

After all, whatever means utilised by PKR and PAS through their “racial reassuring” (sic) and religious pandering has not proved effective in the rural vote banks against Umno. In addition, the DAP has locked down the Chinese vote not to mention the urban vote, hence their target audience is different.

PSM is not advocating anything new in terms of ideology in the Malaysian context; however, they are reviving a spirit of class awareness that should be the pivotal battleground instead of the religious and racial quagmire that both alliances choose to wallow in. In the end, you cannot rely on anti-establishment sentiment forever; eventually people will want to see results on the ground.

For the demographic that could hold the keys to Putrajaya, Pakatan would do well to consider what PSM brings to the table.

Leftist agenda adds polemic to political debate, says analyst (FZ.com)

First Published: 7:00am, Jul 04, 2013
Last Updated: 1:21pm, Jul 04, 2013

by Meena Lakshana
FZ.COM/Meena Lakshana

PETALING JAYA (July 4): Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)’s decision to forge ahead with a renewed agenda to cultivate a strong left wing movement is a step in the right direction and will add another dimension to the national political discourse, a political analyst opines.

As the political stances of Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional (BN) are not driven by ideology, Malaysians need an alternative view of how policies affect them and to what extent, Boon Kia Meng said.

Therefore, a strong left in Malaysia will add to the polemic on policies that affect the people’s welfare, he added.

“The situation now is both coalitions do not have any coherent or consistent left agenda. BN, as a political structure, is undergoing a fundamental crisis and it needs to find a viable political organisation to secure their political hegemony,” said Boon, a philosophy lecturer who is also an award-winning documentary producer.

“From a Marxian point of view, the ruling classes are made up of various fractions of capitalists, senior state bureaucrats and politicians.”For these groups, they don’t really care which political parties are in power, unless their rent-seeking opportunities are tied specifically to Umno. They will find the most suitable political structure for capital accumulation.

“In that sense, these groups would also seek to court Pakatan’s state governments. These business interests would hedge their bets and support any pro-business, political party or coalition,” Boon added.

Hence, this is where the left would come in – to serve as a check and balance of the political coalitions, he said.

Championing socialist principles

Following a general election that left it practically empty-handed and pondering its future, PSM held its 15^th annual congress recently and resolved to stay the course and continue to champion socialist principles and left wing politics.

This, the party believes, is a political aspect Malaysia could use, at this point in time.

The challenge for the party, PSM chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim told fz.com, is how to define socialism to people who are already biased against it.

(Socialism is defined as any of various theories or systems of social organisation in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralised government that often plans and controls the economy.)

Nasir explained that they needed to cleanse perceptions about socialism that have been perpetrated negatively over the years by not only the government, but other political parties.

“Yes, we are facing hardship because we are carrying baggage from past. But for us, the truth is socialism,” he said.

“For us, we are fighting for the truth. We know we are fighting for the truth amidst a lot of blockages,” he added.

For now, Nasir said, the party is already having dialogues with Malay leftist groups across the country.

“More people want to know about Islam and socialism,” he said.

“It is a push and pull factor. When the government of the day is actively pursuing neoliberal policies, which causes the poor to get poorer and workers to be increasingly exploited, where is the left?” he added.

Historical baggage

However, the challenge remains to build the left, warns Boon.

“The repression of the left, from the Emergency years prior to Merdeka, and also the 1960s and 1970s caused the democratic left movement to be very small and weak,” he pointed out.

“But youths now are receptive to leftist ideas. So we have to reach youths who do not have the historical baggage of the older generation,” he added.

Malaysia has not seen a strong left since the 1950s and 1960s, when the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM) joined forces with Parti Rakyat to form a coalition known as the Socialist Front.

In the 1959 General Election, the coalition gained seats in mixed constituencies in Selangor, Johor and Penang. It also won 34.6% of the popular vote cast in the constituencies it contested before the arrests of key leaders under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for being seen as pro Indonesia in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.

Following this, the coalition collapsed, and Parti Rakyat underwent a radical change. Under a new leadership, it was renamed Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia, officially adopting scientific socialism as its ideology.

However, it never really made much headway in local politics and in 1990, PSRM reverted to Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which eventually merged with Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2003.

PSM is an offshoot of PRM and was founded in 1998 to uphold the socialist ideology.

Demand for leftist policies

PSM believes its move to build the left comes at the right time for the people.

There are several policies that the federal government are considering implementing – and which groups are opposed to – such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which is a free trade agreement that aims to liberalise the economy in the Pacific region.

And with a growing awareness among youths about the perceived failure of capitalism due to the growing divide between the rich and poor and the Occupy movement which has gained momentum worldwide, Boon feels there is a demand for leftist politics in Malaysia.

However, whether it will gain a strong momentum here remains to be seen.

“We are under no delusion there will be a massive left. We will continue to champion working class interests and the poor, which is important in countries which have boom and bust economies,” Boon added.

As for PSM, there are challenges ahead in its quest to rebrand itself.

Many Malaysians have a poor perception of socialism, relating it to communism and subsequently the violence that is attached to it.

A member for PSM told fz.com there is a crucial need to build a common understanding of socialism here.

To this end, the delegates at the conference agree that the party needs to leverage its strength – namely the hard work done by members to champion marginalised communities, which cannot be ignored.

PSM may not gain widespread recognition for its work, but its move to build a left movement will add another dimension to debates on national policies.

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