Political analyst says trust between DAP, PKR lost

Khoo Kay Peng says PH not acting as an alliance but others say the DAP move not to call snap polls shows maturity in Opposition politics.

(FMT) – Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said Monday the trust and confidence among Pakatan Harapan partners was “long gone”.

“They are not acting as an alliance. Based on the press conference by (Lim) Guan Eng, he is obviously not very happy about it,” Khoo told FMT.

He was commenting on DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng’s press conference yesterday, announcing that the DAP had scrapped its proposal to seek the dissolution of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for fresh elections to be held.

Lim said the decision had been made because its Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition partner PKR was not in favour of it and because his party’s stand had been that the dissolution of the assembly would only take place with the consensus of all three parties.

“Based on the press conference alone, it is not a good sign for PH. The credibility of the two parties is hurt.”

If the DAP had decided to go it alone without PKR, it would have been the end of the Opposition coalition, Khoo said.

However, in a report in the New Straits Times on Monday, Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Dr P Sivamurugan viewed it differently, saying the move showed maturity.

He described the decision to not go ahead with the snap polls as “a wise decision”.

“The proposal caused leaders from DAP and PKR – two partners in PH – to disagree openly and show people their level of maturity.

“It is important that PH convince the public that whatever decision it made had taken the people’s interests into consideration rather than personal interests,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bersih 2.0 leader Maria Chin Abdullah lauded the move, describing it as a positive one.

“I am glad that an understanding came about and we have to commend the Opposition for its efforts, especially DAP.”

She said it showed that the Opposition was making efforts to include diverse views and that it was able to resolve issues through consultation.

“As for PKR, they showed themselves as measured and able to not only stand on their views but to negotiate amicably with PH partners to reach a common stand. That’s commendable.

“It also shows that PH has placed their full priority on fighting against the biggest scandal in this country – 1MDB,” Chin told FMT.