Rata-rata Chua Jui Meng dianggap sebagai seorang ahli politik lampau yang tidak lagi relevan dengan lanskap sosial sekarang. Namun dengan melompat ke PKR beliau berharap akan dapat menghirup nafas politik baru.
Di belakang tabir, Chua telah menyatakan hasrat untuk bertanding semula di Bakri tetapi ini kawasan tradisional DAP dan Lim Guan Eng telah menyatakan yang mereka tidak akan memberikan kerusi itu kepada PKR.
Di bawah ialah Ini laporan Star mengenai keretakan Pakatan di Johor
Jui Meng under scrutiny
WHEN Datuk Chua Jui Meng sent out feelers that he wanted to contest the Bakri parliamentary seat, he did not expect DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to shoot down the idea.
The Penang Chief Minister was widely reported by the Chinese media as telling him that the seat belonged to DAP and Chua, the five-term MP, had to back off. In a face-saving reaction, Chua denied he had eyed his former constituency, saying he would leave seat allocation to the Pakatan Rakyat leadership.
The former MCA leader was the Bakri MP from 1986 to 2008, but was not picked to defend his seat in the 2008 general election. The 69-year-old politician joined PKR after failing twice in his bid to become MCA president, in 2005 and 2008.
Publicity-savvy: Chua will have to face grilling over his long association with MCA, which he is now running down.
“He is essentially a spent force,” an academician and political analyst said of Chua. “He is trying to re-package himself as an opposition politician, which he thinks is a short cut to regaining his lost credibility.”
But Chua has begun to find out that he cannot call the shots, like he did when he was an MCA leader. He is a newcomer to Pakatan, and PKR already has its leadership ranks filled.
Johor DAP chief and Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau snubbed him by staying away from the state PKR Chinese New Year open house at the constituency, indicating the lingering animosity between the two.
They have openly fought over seat allocations for the coming polls, with Chua describing Dr Boo as “arrogant and destructive” and insisting that the DAP leadership place a gag order on Dr Boo, whom he accused of revealing details of negotiations. DAP ignored him.
Johor DAP leaders have privately said that while Chua considered himself an asset to Pakatan, DAP thought otherwise.
To make himself more visible, Chua recently held a Chinese New Year gathering at a car park next to Sutera Mall in Skudai. The event kicked off with about 300 guests which swelled to about 1,000 by lunch, with many shoppers joining in.
The publicity-savvy politician tweeted that there were 3,500 people at the event including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Whether it was the free food, the presence of Anwar or just curiosity, credit must be given to Chua for his strategic selection of a venue which was sure to attract the crowd.
But Chua's biggest headache, besides trying to get himself a seat to contest, would be to face the grilling from the public and opponents over his long association with MCA, which he is now suddenly running down.
“I think it is fair to say that people would question your sense of loyalty and belonging. You have spent your entire career defending and praising Barisan Nasional, especially MCA, but after you have lost the party polls, you packed up your bags and run down MCA. It speaks volumes of his character, let's be honest,'' Senator Chiew Lian Keng said.
To the predominantly Chinese-educated MCA members and Chinese community in general, Chua is no more than a tao bing (or deserter).
His attacks on MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek have also drawn criticism and are widely seen as a means to sabotage MCA, which has worked hard to regain lost ground in the last two years.
“He has spent years attacking DAP but now works with DAP to destroy MCA. Even the DAP leaders are not finding it comfortable to have him with them. No wonder he gets snubbed,” said a senior party leader.
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