Opposition risks returning to irrelevance
It’s irritating to see grown men squabbling like children when there’s so much to gain from cooperation and moderation.
Scott Ng, Free Malaysia Today
Hope and change. The same message that swept Barack Obama into power was also the theme of Pakatan Rakyat in 2008, when it made great gains in the general election of that year. It was the culmination of years of patient groundwork, and it looked like the world would never be the same again.
Alas, politicians are, in the end, politicians. Politics eventually killed Pakatan Rakyat and tore apart our bright, shiny hope for change.
Now we have Pakatan Harapan, the supposed successor to Pakatan Rakyat. But according to PAS, we still have Pakatan Rakyat. It’s all very confusing, but let’s see if we can make sense of everything that’s going on. DAP and Amanah don’t want to work with PAS. PAS doesn’t want to work with Amanah, but is willing to work with DAP on an issue-to-issue basis. What about PKR? Well, PAS really, really wants to work with PKR, but there is division in PKR on whether to go ahead with Pakatan Harapan or hold out for better cooperative terms with PAS.
The irony is that all these parties are symbiotic in that as a coalition, they are able to appeal to Malaysians across class, colour, and creed. Remove an element and the whole is all the weaker for it, and the result of that weakness will undoubtedly show in crippling losses for the opposition, especially if there is going to be three-corner fights in every electoral district.
It is irritating to see grown men squabbling like children, especially when the benefits of cooperation and moderation far outweigh the satisfaction of keeping petty pride on either side of the equation. Now, assuming DAP and Amanah are willing to pass messages to PAS via PKR, the time has come to discuss at least a limited form of cooperation between the four parties to ensure election victories are maximised.
If there really is no other way, the opposition should be divided into two blocs, one comprising PKR, DAP and Amanah, and the other a PKR-PAS cooperative. They should all then agree to cooperate on an issue-to-issue basis. This way, PAS and DAP-Amanah will be free to snipe at each other all they want on policy differences and individual bills, but present a united front when necessary to keep the government in check.
