'So an ex-MIC Youth leader is raving mad and going amok. To claim he has no personal agenda is an understatement indeed.'
Gobala-PKR war of words rages on
Ferdtan: N Gobalakrishnan is running amok verbally against the PKR leaders, including Anwar Ibrahim. He is obviously setting himself up for sacking, or at least be sidelined. After his tirade against his party mates, he can kiss goodbye to his chance of being chosen to defend his parliamentary seat in Padang Serai.
However, he may stand as an independent or join his ex-PKR fellow, Zaid Ibrahim's party - Kita. Either way, he is bound to lose his deposit in the general election. So the question is that why is he risking so much? It may end his political career for doing what he is doing now.
Principled guy? No way, not from his haughty demeanor.
Wira: Gobalakrishnan, have you forgotten? Do you know what should be the next step for Pakatan Rakyat after the March 2008 surprise? Do you know the aspirations of ordinary supporters like me?
My desire is to see the leaders of this country accountable for their criminal actions and I feel the best way to achieve this feat is to have a two-party system where if you are a corrupt leader, God helps you if and when the opposition takes over Putrajaya. Most Pakatan supporters share my sentiment.
PKR is not a perfect party and most importantly, no one expects it to be perfect. At least to many of us, it is a lot less corrupt than Umno and is a better party to give this country 1Malaysia.
So you can either remain in Pakatan or switch over to BN. The choice is yours and you don't have to justify by being a trojan for Umno and play to the gallery of BN-owned mass media. Just jump. Don't forget to claim your reward from Najib Razak.
Anonymous: So an ex-MIC Youth leader is raving mad and going amok. To claim he has no personal agenda is an understatement indeed. So my advice to you, Gobala is 'Go balik to MIC' if PKR cannot serve the Indians.
MIC needs characters like you since the ‘numero uno' gangster is gone and things are a bit tame and quiet. In MIC, if you scream about championing the Indians, big brother Umno will show you his middle finger.
Gandhi: Yes Gobala, I thought you were a ‘mandore' in PKR, but now it seems you have got some sudden epiphany to question the PKR leadership. Let the non-Indians say whatever they want because they are not bothered by the marginalisation of Indians.
All they want is to get Indian votes and then sideline them later. People like you who have more political acumen than N Surendran should be the vice-president, not the ones who behave like sheep and take the Indians for a ride again by Pakatan.
Don't give up your principles for any powerless posts in PKR. I'm positive there's a lot of people supporting you. PKR must listen to dissenting voices as they are not beyond reproach.
ONG: Heard of the story of the Malay crabs pulling one another down? The disease has spread to Indian crabs. Whoever reaches the top is labeled ‘mandore' and dismissed with other derogatory terms. How to improve this way?
KSN: I do not wish to comment about Gobalakrishnan's quarrel with the PKR leadership. But whether Surendran is a member of PKR and whether he voted in the last elections are irrelevant.
Quality, knowledge, competency, integrity, etc, should be the criteria. He may have become a PKR member today. He definitely has a better profile in the public eye. Leave Surendran out of your dispute with PKR because he is innocent in that respect.
Terus: Gobala may be barking but it is definitely not up the wrong tree. He is pouring out his frustration, may be in a public way that PKR leaders may not like but do understand that he chose to do so because PKR leaders are not lending their ears. Putting him aside will be PKR's loss. It's better to seek an amicable solution with him.
P Dev Anand Pillai: Since it will be a herculean task to satisfy Indians no matter which side of the divide they are, it will be best that the Indians just go back to their beloved MIC, like what happens at the end of most Tamil movies.
On one hand, we have at least 42,000 Indians born in Malaysia but still without proper identification when their beloved Umno-MIC-BN was in power at the federal and state levels and the best part is they are so proud of this that they have made an advertisement on the Tamil radio stations about this sorry state.
On the other hand, we have a so-called chameleon, sly fox, double or fork-tongued charismatic leader who is blamed for everything that is not right with Indians. So the moral of the story is Indians are not ready for multiracial politics yet, Umno-MIC-BN are the best options for them, please go back to them and let the young ones move on with multiracial politics which we believe in.
Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Gobala insists that Anwar, Azmin Ali and PKR are not doing enough for the Tamils. He is partially right though - they certainly did not help one undeserving Tamil and that person is none other than Gobala himself. On that score, I support that wise decision to exclude him from the line-up and I applaud PKR for their wise filtering of power crazed racists.
Gobala is a sore loser and an utter liability to Pakatan. If PKR is wise enough, they will get rid of him as soon as possible, lest the vicious cycle continues and PKR's reputation shall take yet another beating.
ACR: I have always felt that Pakatan is unwittingly alienating East Malaysians and Indian Malaysians. However, I am not in the least impressed by Gobala's current diatribe against Anwar and PKR. Just weeks ago when Zaid left, Gobala said he will always be Anwar's man - and will sink or swim with him, sort of. But now he is venting unabated and I dare say more hurtful than whatever Zaid said.
He perhaps feels that he deserves the vice-president post for the votes he secured. But PKR's elections may not be reflective of people's perception on the ground especially when only 8%-9% of its members voted.
I personally feel Surendran is a worthy man to hold the VP post. He is in touch with ground level issues and is also fit by virtue of his decorum to be in the August House if he is chosen to contest in the 13th GE.
Malayamuda: In Gobala's latest tweet, he said Anwar took him for a ride for 12 years. Taken for a ride for 12 years? You are not fit to be a leader if you can be taken for a ride for so long.
Victor Johan: Cancerous cell within the PKR body. Maybe at level 2. Need to have chemo theraphy urgently to save body. Or perhaps amputation of the effected part. Has a Godly name, I believe, but a wolf in sheep's skin.
Son Pravin is in his 20s, a nobody really in party, but made him misbehave with police at outside of parliament recently so as to get caught to obtain coverage and publicity. The rakyat especially the Indians, and others, are not stupid not to see the cheap publicity stunt.
Tenang - the Normandy for Pakatan
Ghkok: The battle for votes, especially in by-elections, is a battle of a show of force through bribery, suppression, coercion. Money is thrown around, racial issues escalated, postal votes abused and voters threatened. This is reality.
As long as these things exist, what is the meaning of voting? What does the result actually show? In my opinion, the results show the extent upon which the forces of repression is willing to go, and the extent upon which the voters are willing to defy it.
If the voters are willing to somehow call upon their courage and wisdom to say "enough is enough", and vote according to their conscience, I believe 75 percent of the time, their vote will go to Pakatan Rakyat irrespective of whether it is a PAS, PKR or DAP candidate.
Therefore, the story at the end of the day is about voters. Will voters train their minds on the long-term future of the country in this by-election and in the impending GE? That's the question.
Rolls-Royce: Why continue to assume that the voters will continue to vote along racial lines? I think one strategy is to sell to the voters more non-racial but significant issues confronting this nation - abuse of power, corruption, incompetency and denying the mandate of the rakyat, especially in Perak, and attempting to do the same in Selangor and Penang.
PAS must also learn to focus more secular issues than just be concerned with heaven, man-women, what to wear, what to eat, and what to pray.
Zainal: The best strategy in my opinion is to have PAS field a Chinese candidate. This will bring the votes from the Malay PAS supporters and from the Chinese voters.
Sad: I am a Chinese - I am not afraid of PAS, but more afraid of Umno.
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