An encounter with Raja Petra Kamarudin his evil intention the third force

this is what Raja Petra Kamarudin said

What Syed Husin Ali said, however, does hold some truth when he commented that the third force is neither third nor a force. This was almost the same argument that was used to change the name of the opposition coalition from Barisan Alternatif (the Alternative Front) to Pakatan Rakyat (the People’s Alliance).

Public attention on rampant politicking during the just-concluded PKR polls prompted much talk about a political ‘third force’ coming into existence.

But for PKR’s NONEoutgoing deputy president Syed Husin Ali, talk will be talk because for now, the third force is “neither third, nor force”.

“Most people associate the idea of a third force with the Liberal Party in England, but the Liberal Party has existed for hundreds of years as a political organisation. It has its own force.

“We have yet to see this third force as a ‘force’ or a ‘third’ because there are differing views among those behind it, too,” he told Malaysiakini last week.

The veteran politician’s decision to not defend his post sparked vicious in-fighting in PKR and allegations of vote-rigging. This led to deputy presidential aspirant Zaid Ibrahim pulling out of the contest and eventually quitting the party, pledging to set up a new one.

Syed Husin said he understands that parties involved in the third force are not entirely independent.

“We know who is behind the third force and they may not necessarily be Pakatan-friendly,” he said, noting that this could have an adverse impact on the opposition coalition.

“I more or less know (who is involved) but one by one they have come out to say they have nothing to do with it, including Zaid, the one in Sabah, in the peninsula and in Sarawak,” he said.

Lawyer and prominent blogger Haris Ibrahim – another person said to be part of the third force – has also denied the claim, saying that his proposed Barisan Rakyat is intended to screen election candidates for Pakatan Rakyat.

However, Haris does not rule out the possibility of the 20 proposed candidates contesting independently if Pakatan does not accept them.

This did not sit well with Syed Husin, who said PKR does not need to be held at ransom.

“We have our own screening process and we have a larger group of potential (candidates). Of course we can make the decision to let others contest under our banner (as PSM candidates did in 2008), that’s not a problem (but) we make this decision, not someone else coming in to say ‘You must field this candidate’.

“If they say they have someone with potential, that person must show their strength because in politics numbers count. How strong is his support?”

Interestingly, Syed Husin said that a representative believed to be in the group behind Barisan Rakyat had met with him prior to the 2008 election to suggest a candidate for the Kota Damansara state seat.

“It so happened that I knew this person he was referring to, (so I said) ‘Do you know that he is a drunkard? Where is this screening? You come here to negotiate, to ask that someone else be sidelined. But if this is your candidate then sorry, goodbye’.” — Malaysiak

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