It’s been apparent for some time now that PKR is a political organisation at odds with itself. God knows how many factions it has been split into. There’s definitely a faction loyal to party president Wan Azizah Ismail and another that puts its faith in the leadership of her deputy, Azmin Ali. And then there’s a rag tag group of activists led by the firebrand Badrul Hisham Shaharin a.k.a. Chegubard, who has had his differences with both Wan Azizah and Azmin.

There’s no denying that these divisions, if not caused by Anwar Ibrahim’s incarceration, have been worsened by it.
And now Anwar has spoken again from behind his prison bars, not to address PKR’s problems – at least not directly – but to give his latest take on the Citizens’ Declaration, which he initially supported, which Azmin signed, which Wan Azizah distanced herself from, and which quite a few members of the party are against.

In a letter to PKR that has been leaked to the public, Anwar cautions against placing too much trust in former PM Mahathir Mohamad, the de facto leader of the Save Malaysia movement that came up with the declaration.

Anwar does have legitimate cause to be sceptical of Mahathir, as do other advocates of political reform. And the Citizens’ Declaration does lack an elucidation of how such reform would be achieved. It is specific only on one aim: the ouster of Prime Minister Najib Razak. Certainly, to most reformists, reform cannot be achieved without the ouster of Umno, which, of course, is not on Mahathir’s agenda.

However, the people welcomed the Save Malaysia movement precisely because it gave them, and not the politicians, the right to set the reform agenda after Najib is forced out. The Citizens’ Declaration is historic in being a neutral platform where representatives of different parties may work towards a common goal despite their differences. While it was certainly authored by politicians, it implicitly respects the right of the rakyat to set the agenda, at least vicariously, by making their choices at the polls.

The problem is that now that there’s a platform, every political party wants to set an agenda. Who can fault them? Capitalising on a popular cause is what politicians do. With a platform as big as Save Malaysia, they see an opportunity to promote their own agendas. Yes, we need reform, but the question of who does the reform is just as important as the reform itself. The Citizens’ Declaration must be neutral because it is only the voters who have the right to decide which party has the reform agenda worthy of their support.

If anything, the declaration should contain language guaranteeing elections in the event of the achievement of its goal and an interim coalition government to rule the country until those elections are held.