Party backing Anwar fights for survival<\/p>\n
By Nelson Graves<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia's Parti Keadilan Nasional,
\nthe standard-bearer of jailed former finance minister Anwar
\nIbrahim, is reeling from dissent a year after its creation.<\/p>\n
In a case of tasting one's own medicine, the party that calls
\nPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad an autocrat is being accused --
\nby none other than Mahathir -- of harboring a dictator.<\/p>\n
A vice president has quit the National Justice Party,
\nthreatening to sue the deputy chief for \"lies and mud slinging\".
\nThe internecine squabbling, splashed on the pages of national
\nnewspapers, has some wondering whether it will disintegrate,
\nleaving the opposition in the grasp of Islamic conservatives.<\/p>\n
\"It is life-threatening to the party,\" political commentator
\nM.G.G. Pillai said.<\/p>\n
A senior Western diplomat said: \"It's an open question whether
\nthe party can make the next election.\"<\/p>\n
Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) was formed in
\nApril 1999 as the political vehicle for Anwar's supporters who
\nspontaneously took to the streets of the capital after he was
\nsacked and arrested in September 1998.<\/p>\n
Keadilan attracted a motley crew -- former members of
\nMahathir's party, academics, human rights workers and political
\nneophytes including Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who was
\npropelled to the presidency of the party.<\/p>\n
The party was instrumental in uniting the usually disparate
\nopposition, which more than doubled its seats in parliament in
\ngeneral elections in November, with Keadilan winning five races.<\/p>\n
The party has been struggling ever since. A group of ethnic
\nIndians walked out when Keadilan chose a Moslem Malay as its
\ncandidate in a parliamentary by-election earlier this year.
\nThen five websites that had helped the party counter the
\nmainstream press closed down.<\/p>\n
Now vice president Marina Yusoff, a former leader of
\nMahathir's party and a founding member of Keadilan, has resigned
\nand called deputy president Chandra Muzaffar a dictator.<\/p>\n
A scathing letter which Marina wrote to Chandra in January has
\nappeared on the Internet. Does she still consider Chandra a
\ndictator? \"His style, yes,\" she told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The irony of the situation was not lost on Mahathir. \"He
\n(Chandra) accuses people of being dictators but he himself is a
\ndictator,\" the 74-year-old prime minister said.<\/p>\n
Chandra was out of the country and could not be reached for
\ncomment. But Wan Azizah came to his defense, saying the dispute
\nwith Marina had been blown out of proportion. \"There are so many
\nother things the country needs to focus on,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Still, politicians and analysts said the dispute was a symptom
\nof deeper troubles inside the party.<\/p>\n
They cited a struggle between factions, with one focused on
\ngetting Anwar released from prison and the other pursuing a
\nbroader Islamic agenda.<\/p>\n
\"I think the party has deviated from its main agenda,\" Marina
\nsaid. \"My main agenda has always been to free Anwar. By trying to
\nsay the party is not accountable to one man, some party members
\nhave deepened the alienation of Anwar supporters.\"<\/p>\n
A senior opposition leader who asked not to be identified said
\nKeadilan was still struggling to define itself.<\/p>\n
\"Once the election was over, they began to find there were
\ndifferent agendas, different cultures -- former UMNO members,
\nAnwar supporters, NGOs, idealists,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if Wan Azizah needed to impose her leadership, he said:
\n\"The party needs leadership from somebody.\"<\/p>\n
Marina, who once sat on the powerful UMNO Supreme Council,
\nsaid Islamic conservatives appeared to be gaining an upper hand.
\n\"If this continues, it will become another Islamic party.\"<\/p>\n
Keadilan leaders accuse the mainstream press of capitalizing
\non the dispute to discredit the party. Vice president Tian Chua
\nsaid: \"If the repressive regime hopes to destroy the party by
\ncreating perceptions that Keadilan is facing internal squabbles,
\nit must be in a state of hallucination.\"<\/p>\n
But he acknowledged that turnout at the party's recent annual
\ngeneral assembly was modest. \"We recognize we have weaknesses,
\nespecially in administration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Syed Husin Ali, president of the opposition Parti Rakyat
\nMalaysia (PRM) which is considering merging with Keadilan, said
\nWan Azizah's party was not terminally ill. \"The governing parties
\nare concerned Keadilan and the PRM will get together.\"<\/p>\n
But many believe the merger, which would give Keadilan the
\nPRM's organizational skills, will never come about.<\/p>\n
The political calendar could work in Keadilan's favor -- the
\nnext general election is not due until 2004.<\/p>\n
Will the party disintegrate by then? \"I don't think so,\" said
\nthe senior opposition leader. \"It's going to be a very testing
\ntime, but you can't write them off.\"<\/p>",
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