Two-party system still out of reach in Malaysia, says academic
(Bernama) – Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) hope and aspiration of becoming a viable alternative to the Barisan Nasional (BN), and put in place a two-party system for Malaysia, will not become a reality if the opposition parties fail to forge close cooperation and understanding among them.
Che Hamdan Che Mohd Razali, a senior political science lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA’s Dungun campus in Terengganu, said PR, in its resent set-up, seemed weak and bereft of the ability to put an end to the BN’s hegemony in the nation’s political arena.
Nevertheless, he said, the current political landscape may possibly see some changes, given that several major political parties were presently grappling with internal strife.
“It’s not clear yet which party will reap the dividends from the internal crises engulfing parties like PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat), PAS, UMNO and MIC,” he told Bernama.
On June 16, DAP Secetary-General Lim Guan Eng dropped a bombshell when he declared that PR had “ceased to exist”.
Lim said the PAS Dewan Ulama’s emergency motion to sever ties with the DAP, which was passed unanimously during the party’s 61st muktamar or congress early this month, had effectively killed PR. PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail later admitted that the coalition has ceased to function formally.
On June 16, the MIC crisis, which had been lingering since last December, took a turn for the worse when its President Datuk Seri G. Palanivel suspended the party membership of his deputy and 14 others.
Che Hamdan said PR’s actual strength, following the recent developments, could only be determined during the next general election or in a by-election, should one crop up in the near future.
“However, there’s no by-election in the short term to test the support of the people (for the opposition coalition). (Should there be one) we don’t know if it’s going to be a straight fight with BN or a three-cornered contest.
“I still believe that PAS and DAP will return to cooperate with each other in GE14 (14th General Election)… among the reasons being they want to avoid a three-cornered contest among the main political parties in Malaysia, but more so, they want to avoid a clash between the opposition parties,” he said.
He also did not dismiss the possibility of either PAS or DAP tweaking their political approach for the sake of realising their main goal, which was to take over Putrajaya.
Commenting on efforts by non-governmental organisation Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) to set up a political party to replace PAS in Pakatan Rakyat, Che Hamdan said PasMa lacked the political firepower or influence to make any impact on the opposition coalition.
“Compared with former PAS leaders who were defeated (in the recent party elections), PasMa’s leaders don’t have proven track records as political or civil society activists.
“They have also not proven to be a force to be reckoned with and be a worthy opponent to BN. They’re mainly being viewed as a group (of people) who are disgruntled with PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang,” he said.
He was convinced that PasMa would not make any mark in the opposition coalition without the participation of the former PAS leaders who were defeated in the party polls early this month.
On June 13, PasMa President Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi announced the setting up of a new opposition-friendly political party to assume the role played by PAS in the opposition coalition.
