KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak, a former Chief Minister of Sabah, expressed the view that politics can be comprehended via four “Ps”: politics, party, principles and personal interests.
“Politics supplies the strategy. The party supplies the justification. Principles supply the public argument. Personal interests may at times supply the actual explanation,” he stated in a Facebook post today.
Salleh noted that flexibility and compromise are essential in politics, yet cautioned that flexibility in strategies must not be mistaken for flexibility in principles.
He remarked that cooperation could be labeled political maturity when it suits the occasion, just as competition could likewise be justified in the name of principles.
“Thus the question is not merely who is right or wrong. It is: which ‘P’ is steering the decision today?”
He stated that political stances and alliances may shift with circumstances, but principles ought not to be bent for political convenience.
Salleh observed that today’s opponent may become tomorrow’s ally, while yesterday’s principle may become today’s inconvenience – changes frequently described as “political reality”.
