‘Little sense in much talked-about PKR-Amanah merger’

KUALA LUMPUR – To merge or not to merge: the question that has been on the minds of  PKR and Amanah leaders over the past few days.

While some may brush it off as mere rumours, the idea may actually hold more water than initially imagined, especially for PKR. 

The reformist party has lost quite a chunk of its support base, particularly the Malays, following the defection of former deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and cohorts in February last year and with fence-sitters returning to Umno. 

Calls for new faces to helm the political outfit have also never been louder since Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim inspired the party’s formation in 2003 and took charge of it later. 

Its embarrassing performance in the recently concluded Melaka election has piled more pressure on the PKR president and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman. 

Merging with Amanah may seem logical as it gives PKR and Anwar the much-needed boost from certain segments of the Malay voter bank. 

This explains Anwar’s earlier remark acknowledging that a formal proposal on the merger has been submitted but yet to be deliberated, and that any suggestion for the good of both parties is feasible.

Merger will alienate party supporters

For political observers, however, the move serves little political sense, particularly in the larger picture of PH’s survival. 

“I frankly am struggling to understand the logic behind the proposed merger,” Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun told The Vibes. 

According to the analyst, such unification would alienate both PKR’s non-Malay supporters who see Amanah as an Islamist party, as well as the latter’s more ardently religious supporters who may not welcome the more progressive, liberal PKR. 

Beyond this, Oh said a merger will also not address the most important political impasse faced by the two entities – an increasingly conservative Malay-Muslims voting majority preferring the “racialist” Umno or “religious” PAS. 

Even if not Umno or PAS, they would still fall back to Bersatu as was evident in Melaka recently. The non-Malay supporters in PKR may flock to DAP or even Warisan or Muda as a last resort.” 

The proposal for a PKR-Amanah merger was first floated by political observer Wong Chin Huat earlier this week, with former Selangor PKR Youth chief Najwan Halimi immediately welcoming the suggestion, saying both parties have similar political direction.

While Anwar appears open to the proposal, Amanah seems less cosy about the idea; its deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub quashed such talks while saying that the two parties are already comrades in PH. 

Amanah will not allow its identity taken away

Amanah general adviser Datuk Seri Ahmad Awang told The Vibes that the idea of merging the two PH components is far-fetched and almost impossible to happen. 

“The reason we quit PAS and set up Amanah was because we wanted to form a party with our very own principles. Not just to be in power, but we have our own struggles as well as to champion the rakyat. 

If we merge, then our party’s name and identity will be lost. So for us, this (merger) will never happen. But we are always open to cooperating with any party that shares the same principles.”

Amanah is an offshoot of PAS, formed in September 2015 after its progressive leaders who lost in the party election in June that year quit the Islamist outfit. 

Mohamad Sabu, who was defeated for the PAS’ deputy presidency, led 17 others out of the party and formed the Gerakan Harapan Baru. They later took over the Malaysian Workers’ Party in August before officially rebranding it to Amanah a month later. 

Moving forward, Ahmad said PH should look beyond just its current component parties and consider cooperating with other opposition allies to form a grand coalition, if it is to have any chance of returning to federal power. 

“We should be thinking of expanding the coalition, not merging two parties. That doesn’t make us strong, the opposite in fact. If it really means business, we must strive to work with the other opposition parties,” he said. 

Boost for Anwar, but no difference for PH

For National Council of Professors chairman Prof Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, the speculation of a PKR-Amanah merger came as no surprise to him, with Anwar and his party ostensibly desperate for larger Malay representation. 

He said with the Malay support weakening, PKR needed a boost in respect to this group – a key component to winning any general election in the Malay-Muslim majority country. 

PH, which is led by PKR, needs to be seen as pro-Malay. But its Malay component has weakened, and the coalition certainly can’t be led by DAP. So, I wouldn’t say I’m shocked by the proposal to merge.

“What this merger does is it gives support to Anwar, and the advantage for him to tell his PH allies that he has the backing of a larger group now,” he said, in reference to the mounting pressure for Anwar to be replaced as the face of PH. 

Shamsul Amri said any unification between PKR and Amanah will only benefit the Port Dickson MP, who will attract more Malay support and approval from leaders and grassroots, but does not see the move benefitting PH as a whole. 

He added that this is because fence-sitting voters, who voted for PH in the last general election, now appear to be returning back to Barisan Nasional’s fold, as evident in the Melaka polls. 

“The voting pattern won’t change even if the two parties merged. But for Anwar, this (merger) is a signalling move, to show he has the support to remain at the top,” he said.

How will this play out? PKR insiders have parroted the talk about keeping PH united ahead of the general election, while other non-PH opposition parties are looking to make their moves in garnering support. – The Vibes, December 7, 2021