Political appointments and rewards

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IF you are a member of a political party which is not in power, I believe you do not expect any reward of any kind.

What do you expect to get when even your party leaders have nothing? Without political power and when your party is not even a part of the ruling coalition, it then boils down to your own staying power in the political wilderness.

It is no surprise to see members falling by the wayside as soon as their party is defeated in an election. Candidates who failed to get elected are also among those who would normally quit the party or, even politics altogether.

Many party loyalists and members who stay for the long haul during trying and difficult times in the opposition can expect some form of rewards when their party attains power.

This is normal and to be expected, even as a form of recognition to the member’s strong support, loyalty and contribution to the party.

A successful candidate may also reward some of his staunch supporters whom he knows are politically savvy people who could offer him good advice. He would probably appoint them as political aides for the duration of his term in office.

But then, there are only a few people an elected representative can afford to have on his payroll. Most are prepared to work for very little remuneration given their personal ties, a shared ideology and passion for politics.

Honestly, I see nothing wrong in parties and leaders rewarding their supporters after having attained power.

However, this should be left to the discretion of the leaders whose decisions should be accepted by all. I must stress this — rewards should be given voluntarily and accepted likewise.

Ideally, there should be no intense lobbying and demands, even as some consider it democratic to lobby and demand.

Let me give an example of a recent lobbying and demand for political appointments. This one is about a party official demanding for positions from Sabah government leaders. I think it is a silly and unnecessary way of asking for political rewards.

Last Monday, Sabah PKR deputy chief Sazaly Donol claimed that Pakatan Harapan is being sidelined for political appointments by the Sabah government, including at the village level.

He said if this trend continues, it may cause trouble for the government.

“I worry that it would stymie the smooth operation of the unity government, and declarations of Sabah having a unity government would just be empty words,” he said in a statement.

At present, Sazaly, who is also the Kota Marudu PKR chief, said political appointments in the district are mostly dominated by GRS and PBS.

I do not know Sazaly but this is what I think of his request. It smacks of self-serving motive which he tries to camouflage as one coming from his party, PKR.

Sazaly should be aware that although PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the prime minister, Sabah PKR is almost irrelevant in the equation at national level. Anwar needs GRS and PBS to survive and people like Sazaly should look at the bigger picture.

Sabah PKR should be happy that its leader, Christina Liew, has been appointed a minister in the Sabah Cabinet. That should suffice for now. No one is Sarawak PKR is a minister, if their colleagues in Sabah wish to know.

The trouble is that we have too many ambitious party members eyeing very limited positions. Even those at the district and village levels are not enough to go around.