Attaining victory as an underdog is always sweeter than winning as a favorite. However, maintaining the position of a frontrunner is a different ballgame altogether. This is the new-fangled challenge for Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) politician Nurul Izzah Anwar has to tackle though one the young MP for Lembah Pantai is poised to take on.
Defeating three-term incumbent Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was a popular Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Barisan Nasional government for the Lembah Pantai seat in the 2008 General Election was unquestionably a hard act to follow. Yes, Nurul happens to be the daughter of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who are both leaders of PKR (the former being a de facto leader of the Opposition and latter the president of PKR) but, still, to overcome the odds of winning against a minister of Shahrizat’s merit and who is more than twice her age (at the age of 27) is not exactly an easy feat.
In this exclusive with Malaysian Digest, Nurul Izzah eloquently shares her views on current issues and the way she is dealing with her career as a young politician, a wife and a mother of two.
Malaysian Digest: How do you feel about Dato’s Seri Najib’s administration as the Prime Minister of Malaysia?
Nurul Izzah: He came in with considerable baggage as Prime Minister of Malaysia and afterwards there’s been a lot of rhetoric at work like the 1Malaysia concept. In terms of implementation of the branding it’s been quite well done. About RM20 million was spent to pay APCO Worldwide which is very expensive indeed. I wish it didn’t have to come from our coffers but it did. Second issue of course is when he started off with a lot of very high profile approach like the NKRA (National Key Results Area). It is a non-traditionalist approach and very costly. I have nothing against consultants but I’m not very impressed with the results.
At the end of the day its about filling the content, filling the impact at a more grassroots level and that has yet to be realized. As an opposition member of the parliament it’s a bit disappointing in terms of how he embraces the opposition. He opened a 1Malaysia clinic in Pantai Permai. I was invited by the Minister of Health and he didn’t mention my name during his speech. Its not about having my name mentioned by him but if you talk about 1Malaysia, it’s very important to show that you’re willing to collaborate especially as the Prime Minister with the Opposition. So as to the real extent I don’t think I’m fully satisfied or accepted the sincerity of the grand pronouncement.
MD: The 1Malaysia policy and the UMNO Juara Rakyat. A policy usually will come together with a completely defined manifesto. Looking at the 1Malaysia website it’s quite trivial for it to pass for a policy. What is your take on this matter?
NI: You brought up an important point. You see, within UMNO itself they’re struggling in accepting the term 1Malaysia and this is where the biggest difficulty lies. There are the NKRAs which was recently unveiled in Sunway late last year. They failed to come out with a consensus on what the NKRA should be for 1Malaysia. I feel that you can talk about grandiose policies but implementing it is another matter.
On the PKR side, I believe, even from the local level it’s very important to make sure that once I have programs it must have the involvement of a good mix between the Malay, Chinese, Indian and other races at the operational level. It’s because we are trying to do something which possibly had failed earlier on after our independence. I’m talking about multiracial politics, etc.
So you really need to sort of have a balance between what a pronouncement of a policy and the mechanics of the implementation part of it. Within UMNO itself there are a lot of disagreements on the policy.
MD: What was it like for you at the time of the March 2008 General Election?
The night before the election we had a big rally at Lucky Garden. We managed to draw a really big crowd, a mixture of all races. It was a proud moment for me personally. I said despite the results tomorrow I feel that I’ve already won. When you enter politics, especially opposition politics it’s very different. You need to have a higher aspiration and be very clear of what you are fighting for. I felt the win was really in our favor but of course I was astounded by the results. It’ a great win but again it also presented a different challenge for us.
In Kuala Lumpur, ten of us from Pakatan Rakyat won out of 11 seats. It is very challenging when you don’t have direct powers to implement changes per se. It’s still a Federal Territory so DBKL still has its super powerful Mayor appointed by the Federal Government. Again, what we do best is perhaps to raise the issue in a more spectacularly publicized manner. I take it with that in mind we need to change the culture of political patronage and this is my chance to do it. It might be just for Lembah Pantai but for me it presented such enormous opportunities and possibilities.
The people want to know. What kind of authority do you as an MP of Lembah Pantai from an opposition party have and what are the limitations of your power?
We don’t have state assembly present which is different from Selangor and the rest of the states. If you compare to cities like Canberra and Washington DC, the taxpayers in KL do not have the power to that RM2 billion budget each year spent by DBKL. It will put us in a very difficult position because it is a very big constituency.
Sometimes I do feel like a postwoman… postman because we will receive complaints related to services and enforcement and still it’s up to DBKL to take actions. It will only be solved if DBKL is efficient which they are not it’s the same with the high crime rates which is the responsibility of the Police Force. I guess the best way is to bring it to the Parliament.
What do you think will be Pakatan Rakyat and your chances come the next General Election?
I go back to the issue of political patronage. It is also a double-edged sword. One of the reasons UMNO being so successful is because of that. RM1 million was disbursed to each constituency under the Federal Government last year and it goes straight to the winning party which is BN. This was disclosed at the parliament.
There’s a lot that you can do with RM1 Million. There’s a lot of goodwill that can be generated. That is a huge challenge for all the MPs in KL. We do give letters stating that we don’t get that money but we’ll do our best to raise funds.
I think at the next General Election, with all the issues at play, there’ll be changes in terms of support among the Malays, Chinese and Indians. I am very optimistic but it all depends on the states. Perak is a goner for BN, I believe. Sabah and Sarawak after the whole “Allah” issue are very favorable towards us. But, again, we have to work hard to present the best candidates.
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Defeating three-term incumbent Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was a popular Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Barisan Nasional government for the Lembah Pantai seat in the 2008 General Election was unquestionably a hard act to follow. Yes, Nurul happens to be the daughter of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who are both leaders of PKR (the former being a de facto leader of the Opposition and latter the president of PKR) but, still, to overcome the odds of winning against a minister of Shahrizat’s merit and who is more than twice her age (at the age of 27) is not exactly an easy feat.