Key takeaways from PASleaks

“PASleaks” refers to a report currently circulating in the public, which contains what appears to be minutes of a number of political meetings, primarily involving and concerned with PAS, Umno and Bersatu.

Like the Prime Minister, I have no idea whether this document is genuine, and make no claims one way or another.

If the document is genuine though (and that’s a big if, of course), it may be worth seeing what the key takeaways are for citizens in a purported democracy. I would summarise them as the following.

Firstly, the degree of scheming, backbiting, and political intrigue in Malaysia remains exceedingly high. It is a needlessly complex game of cloaks and daggers, where the motivations are the naked pursuit of power, at the expense of everything else.

Secondly, as has been pointed out repeatedly, the document suggests that the integrity of key institutions meant to provide checks and balances on executive power may have been compromised.

Thirdly, this is further proof that politicians tend to be obsessed about their own interests and power struggles, while the welfare of the rakyat tends to take a backseat.

The complexity of political moves and countermoves described in this document might perhaps confound even professional mathematicians.

It truly displays multilateral, multidimensional thinking; where every angle of attack is dissected and examined from inside out.

There are discussions about the timing of general elections versus another party’s internal elections; discussions about the ‘Putrajaya’ and ‘PWTC’ factions within Umno; accusations of how the Prime Minister and his circle are weak and incompetent, and how this can be exploited; and so on.

One cannot help but think: if our leaders put as much effort into navigating the complexities of how to formulate policies that really help the rakyat as they did in trying to one up one another, Malaysia would be a vastly better place.

While the analysis and counteranalysis can be considered refined and complex, some of the dynamics that inform them remind one of a primary school playground.

Some of the conditions described by the document are little more than variations of arguments along the lines of “If you friend him, then I don’t friend you.”

Some factions refuse to work with Anwar Ibrahim, while other factions refuse to work with Najib Razak or Zahid Hamidi - creating this ridiculous web of conditionalities and contingencies.

It is petty and pitiful that such big questions about who decides what in the running of our beloved country really boil down to intractable personality conflicts.

The document explicitly describes the influence politicians allegedly have over government officers such as the Attorney General and the Chief Justice.

It also describes how institutions like the Registrar of Societies and the Home Ministry may be subject to political pressure.

Of course, none of this will come as ‘big news’ to anyone; but it is glaring to see it described so openly like this. If key pillars of our democracy fail to function as independently as they should, the integrity of the entire system will come tumbling down.

Equally glaring is how this document seems to reflect how politicians see our democracy as just one big game to exploit and manipulate.

One particular example is the document’s single minded focus about what is in the best interests of PAS and its electoral base.

Pursuing what is best for PAS and its more narrow base is mentioned several times in the document - except towards the end. At the very end, the document talks instead about how PAS needs to sell to the public that it is all about unity, and fights for all Malaysians.

This is a blatant discrepancy between what a political party is versus what it sells itself as being.

We may by now have been conditioned to accept this as being par for the course, but perhaps it is a mistake to be so accepting of how this is “just the way things are.” At the end of the day, we the rakyat need to reconsider our habit of leaving everything to the existing cadre of politicians.

Our best hope may be to take that vital step of breaking free from our comfort zones, and building alternatives to existing political culture - from scratch if necessary.

The only way we can truly overturn the current toxic political ecosystem is if we bring together key stakeholders, and put our full strength into designing a new type of culture and movement - where upholding integrity, sincerity of purpose, and resilience against corruption are baked in as key design features right from the start.

Nathaniel Tan is a strategic communications consultant and works with Projek #BangsaMalaysia