14 lawan 3

If Pakatan Rakyat wants to form the next federal government it needs to talk to the other parties and maybe increase the membership of Pakatan Rakyat from just three parties to six, seven or eight.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I am not well today, have not been since yesterday, so I am really in no mood to write long articles. I just want to get this one completed and then crawl into bed and sleep off my flu. And I am going to write what I have already written before back when Barisan Alternatif still existed and before there was even a Pakatan Rakyat.

Barisan Nasional verus Pakatan Rakyat (then called Barisan Alternatif) is 14 lawan 3. That is because there are 14 parties in the Barisan Nasional coalition and only three in Pakatan Rakyat.

Once upon a time Barisan Nasional too used to be only three parties when it was called the Alliance Party. The three members were Umno, MCA and MIC.

If Barisan Nasional remained three parties today it could not form the government. Umno, MCA and MIC combined could not even secure 100 seats. Today, Barisan Nasional (or the Alliance Party) would be in the opposition.

Say what you like, without the rest of the 14 members of Barisan Nasional they would not be in government. The figures speak for themselves.

What I wrote a few years ago was that Barisan Alternatif (or now Pakatan Rakyat) needs more than just three parties. Even Umno, never mind how strong it may be, can’t do it with just three parties. If Pakatan Rakyat wants to form the next federal government it needs to talk to the other parties and maybe increase the membership of Pakatan Rakyat from just three parties to six, seven or eight.

And this means not only a power-sharing formula must be ironed out but a seat allocation agreement as well. There are after all about 800 State and Parliament seats so there are enough to go around. And if each party does not bite off more than it can chew it may yet get to form the next federal government.