This is a free consult for Pakatan Rakyat.
If Pakatan wants to have a confirmed win for GE14 in 2018, I believe Anwar Ibrahim should retire.
Almost the entire BN campaign was built around hatred for Anwar. Anwar the sodomite, Anwar the corrupt Finance Minister, Anwar the fucker of prostitutes, Anwar the Jewish stooge, ANwar the traitor. Word in the rural areas is a testament to BN's 'Anwar the boogeyman' campaign.
WIthout Anwar, there is no focus for the rural folks' and BN's hate. Without Anwar, I believe GE14 is a sure win for Pakatan Rakyat.
Right now, there are many in PR and PKR who can carry the opposition fight forward without Anwar - in fact, even better without Anwar. He is only there maybe as a spite against Dr M. Perhaps to prove the old man wrong. He is also holding PKR back. PKR is a weak link because of Anwar's baggage.
If you want to win, you need to set aside emotion and petty sentiment, and become completely ruthless in your execution. Getting Anwar to retire at the height of his power will also convey the right message - PR means business and its leaders are not totally in love with the idea of power and the idea of themselves in power. We won't have a Samy Vellu situation where getting an old man to retire is even more painful than removing a tumor.
If you want to convert voters from BN's camp, you need to get rid of the Anwar factor which served its purpose by establishing a platform and guiding PR on how to fight the BN way, as well as BN's own flawed tactics. Without Anwar, BN would be left with a variety of smaller targets. Gauging by how disorganised their campaign is at the moment - coupled with the fact that people who do work for BN are mostly paid for and hardly passionate free-labour volunteers like in PR's army - BN would not know how to respond.
"You want Anwar gone. He's gone. Retired as a winner. Now what?"
Imagine compiling a dossier of scandals for Nurul Izzah, Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Rafizi Ramli, Tian Chua, Elizabeth Wong, Karpal Singh, Tony Pua, Hadi Awang, and the rest. BN's resources would be so stretched, none of their smear campaigns would have the desired impact as they did with Anwar. They couldn't do it these past five years for these other people, and I doubt they can do it in the next five.
I am telling Pakatan Rakyat this for my own benefit - I want elections where issues are discussed and debated, not the personal backgrounds and private scandals of a few. The needs and concerns of the many should outweigh the petty considerations of individuals given special focus.
I am for freedom of speech, so 114A MUST go. Freedom of religion is another thing. You can set funding of billions for Islam and double recognise it as the national religion. But do not allow cases like that Indian lady - what's her name? Revathi? - to happen again. If people want to choose to believe in any religion, or change their minds afterwards, they should be allowed to do so. I do not want to change mine, but I sincerely believe that it is cruel to imprison (not put in prison, just throw them in moral-correction centres) anyone and take their children away from them, simply because they choose to leave Islam.
Also, no one is talking about laws being passed that encroach on civil liberties like the draconian no smoking act. This law was executed strictly in Melaka and while I appreciate, even laud the judiciary by handing me a reduced fine, I believe this law needs to be rethought. I was not comfortable having up to 10K fine or 2 years in prison hanging over my head for smoking one cigarette.
Racism is another issue. This one is not determined by BN or even PR, no matter what delusions they hold as to their power or influence. Racism happens because we - as a people - allow it to. It is up to us to not react or respond to hate-speech and racist talk. The responsibility is ours. We vote every day whether we should degenerate into racism, or rise above hate.
So, for the sake of less-annoying politics, Anwar should retire and prove to everyone that PR's cause is bigger than just one man. If he does that, then the cause becomes immortal and PR will be almost ensured victory in GE14, provided they take the correct strategic steps in reaching out to rural areas.
