Suffice to say from day one, RPK has already advised Zaid not to become a politician in PKR.

For a politician makes and generally have to make compromises to principles based on the imperatives to garner votes and win elections. They are distracted by the ambition to win seats, positions and power. They are not entirely committed to a “Better Malaysia” based just on strict principles except to the extent that campaigning under it for change, bending the principles when expedient, could help get votes and defeat an increasingly unpopular but yet powerful incumbent rival. Besides politicians are bound by discipline and expected loyalty of its officials and members under the whip of party discipline.

RPK like other outspoken members of civil society, blogging and NGO’s activists
May support but do not choose to be politicians in a political party. They are not so bound by party rules and norms or political expediency. They can speak “neutral” and “hentam” any side which is considered by their words and actions as undemocratic or undermining the longer term cause of Better Malaysia” which surely is not limited to mean the unswerving cause of One Man or his side kick to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Anwar’s failings have initially been factored in and ignored/discounted because his martyr’s status in Sodomy I, his charismatic oratory and chameleon like ability to talk differently to different audiences made him the natural leader to weld together ideologically incompatible political parties like DAP & PAS and the various disparate NGOs, Blogging and Civil Society groups united against the common enemy, BN – but this is up to a certain point – the present – beyond which Anwar’s failures are becoming unacceptable and seen, on balance, to be more an obstacle and impediment than strength to the wider PR’s Cause of defeating BN and bringing about a “Better Malaysia”.

If Zaid forms another party and FoPR and civil society’s blogging and NGO’s activists led by RPK support it, it will signify a formal break between this group and Anwar and his cronies in PKR.

This is a weighty decision – not to be taken lightly – because it may, though not necessarily, trigger 3 cornered fights as that which occurred in Batu Sapi that generally would favour the BN. However the “break” from Anwar is a step that may be necessary in the long run to advance PR’s cause of ultimately securing a “Better Malaysia”, if Anwar’s failings are (assuming) considered too intractable or irredeemable, his hold on PKR, at the same time unbreakable and his taking PR to Putrajaya, even if by the remotest chance coming true, will not sustain or bring real change!

That is why FoPR is silent. It is abiding its time, waiting for more detailed analysis and verification of PKR’s alleged abuses of voting process and decision of Zaid, whether he will form a new party as “3rd Force” and who will support this new party – not for victory in the coming 13th GE (which I don’t think PR can make it now) but perhaps the next or the next after next.

RPK told Zaid, long time ago whilst was still in UMNO not to join PKR but to lead the ‘3rd Force’. Now that Zaid has fallen out openly with Anwar, RPK could say “I told you so” (Ref Malaysia Today 30th Sept “Don’t you hate it when someone says: “I told you so!’”). HINDRAF has come out in support of the idea. But what exactly is the 3rd Force? I believe its RPK’s idea. RPK’s own description of it – ‘a balance between BN and PR’ – is itself not that accurate because what he means is that the 3rd Force is a deviation from both:

(a) the kind of racial patronage politics that BN practises;

(b) the kind of politics that PR practises as dictated by its 2 Malay dominant parties ie PKR and PAS – PKR because although its top leaders espouse “New Politics”, they are UMNO’s clones, and PAS for obvious reasons of theocratic agenda.

In other words, the kind of politics the 3rd Force advocates is the same as what PR as a group publicly espouses – proper accountability, transparency, democracy based on truth and consistency – but which, according to RPK, is not practised by PKR because of Anwar’s leadership failings or whatever other of his character flaws or baggage (that RPK perceives is the problem but does not say out publicly) but which PKR cannot practise in part due to Anwar’s protection of his own people at PKR’s helm and in part the need to accommodate PAS.

In short, the 3rd Force is the kind of idealistic platform for the “Betterment of Malaysia” that non politician-idealists like RPK, civil society, blogging and NGO’s activists can give full support because its overarching agenda is that of being true to principles rather than political expedience of saying one thing and doing another! He believes (rightly or wrongly) that such a 3rd Force will attract not only intellectuals from Civil Society, Blogging and NGO segments but also the disgruntled in Sabah and Sarawak, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak as well Orang Asli here and even dissidents from PKR (like Zaid) and UMNO (like Ku Li), all composing a sincere new bloc of political representation, more honest than the supposed humbugs of PKR and theologians of PAS! He believes that such a 3rd Force will secure in longer run the confidence of Mainstream Malaysia, which is what the country needs.

Interestingly RPK did not mention DAP because DAP’s politics is the nearest thing next to the 3rd Force.

The issue is whether the creation of 3rd Force will necessarily split those against BN and favour it. We don’t have the facts to the situation. It depends. It is true IF a voter who didn’t vote for a 3rd Force candidate would have then voted for a PR’s candidate! It is however NOT true IF PR and 3rd Force party/coalition have in an ideal situation an electoral pact to avoid a 3 cornered fight in constituencies where voters there are obviously by majority against BN and BN will otherwise win if their votes split – and where whether the decision to field either a PR’s or the 3rd Force’s candidate is based on an objective determination of which of these 2 against the common enemy is of greater popularity and stands higher chances amongst the voters.

This is more elegant in theory than practical in implementation because chances are that both PR and the 3rd Force (being political parties bent on winning seats) cannot make any objective determination except the self serving one.

That being so – if 3 cornered fight is likelier to be the rule than exception- it must then be determined why there are so many Malaysians of voting age who are either are not voting or registered as voters.

Assuming this is a significant bloc that makes a real and not theoretical difference in electoral outcome: it must be objectively determined if the apathy of this significant Bloc were a result of their being:-

(a) in spite of being opposed to BN’s politics they are, in spite of that, not liking Anwar’s or PAS’s or DAP’s style of politics in PR enough to otherwise come out to vote in support of PR but who will otherwise come out to vote for the 3rd Force Party – in a situation where (assuming) PR’s candidate does not withdraw from the contest thereby precipitating 3 cornered fight; or

(b) inherently politically apathetic thereby making their decision not to vote or registered as voter notwithstanding the 3rd Force fielding a suitable candidate.

The 3rd Force has a relevant impact favourable to Change for “Better Malaysia” if (a) and not (b) holds true. It is a case where the voter would not have voted at all if there had not been a 3rd Force candidate to vote for. That’s for shorter and medium term.

In the longer term the emergence of the Third Force party/coalition helps the Common Cause of Better Malaysia IF (again) in spite of its candidate losing in 3 cornered fight, its participation in the electoral participation raises consciousness of either BN or PR to address the reason why some of the voters have voted for the 3rd Force candidate in the last election. Here the 3rd Force is a delayed agent and vote for longer term change, not affecting the immediate outcome of the current election but affecting the incumbent parties (BN or PR) after that election as either of the latter try to address the issues raised by 3rd Force candidate in an attempt to win over these 3rd Force voters to return to or join the major BN or PR party, with the next election in mind. In other words the 3rd Force serve as incentive for the other 2 major coalitions to self improve for more principled politics in betterment of all.

Well for a start the advocates and promoters of Third Force – RPK, Zaid, Din Merican, Dr Kua Kia Soong, Haris Ibrahim all have made contributions for the ‘Betterment of the Country’s Cause’ or made sacrifices that make them seem credible enough – for a start.

The Third Force then aspires to target and draw support from the following:-

• The unquantified no. of ordinary Malaysians who are eligible and did/do not vote because of absence of alternatives;

• The number of members of BN’s component parties (Gerakan MCA MIC or East Malaysian parties) and NGO like Hindraf which though unhappy with UMNO distrust Anwar led PKR/PR, and Hindraft case may even support BN as lesser evil than PR.

• East Malaysian distrusting Anwar. When TDM was the prime minister and Anwar was his deputy Anwar allegedly instrumental to facilitate party hop after the PBS won a two-seat majority in the 1994 Sabah state elections. His subsequent clarion call as defacto PR leader in Sept 16th during Pak Lah’s time for 30 over East Malaysian MP’s crossovers to take over Federal Govt is viewed baseless and unprincipled.

• The disaffection of many intellectuals from civil society, blogging and NGO community having like opinions of RPK who are disenchanted with Anwar’s political style reminiscent of UMNO’s.

The Question is whether This Third Force’s aspiration to get support from these quarters is true and could trigger critical mass of support – or untrue.

Ultimately, the viability of the Third Force idea, which time has come, must be established by empirical evidence or maybe Merdeka Polls depends on which of these 2 applies more:-

1. a voter who didn’t vote for a 3rd Force candidate would have then voted for a PR’s candidate! (In this case the Third Force obviously favours BN in 3 cornered fight) OR

2. the voters from those groups stated above (i) would not have voted for BN or PR or (ii) not voted at all if the choice were only between BN or PR Anwar/Azmi’s or PAS’s style had there not been a 3rd Force candidate to vote for besides BN and PR. In these cases of (i) or (ii) the Third Force’s existence obviously will not favour BN in 3 a cornered fight.

//A third force prepared to even bed with the BN? Where is your principle?!// – IKT 56 in #15

When RPK says “let the Third Force make an electoral pact with any of the 20 or so political parties from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat”, the word from “both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat” means these collaborating parties were from but have since left BN or PR to be independent or part of coalition of third force if there were one.

The reason for this is that they cannot be still in either BN or PR and yet make a electoral pact with a third party like the so called 3rd force.

So the question of violation of principle of conflicts of interest strictly does not arise.