GEORGE TOWN – Pakatan Harapan needs to overhaul its strategies or it may face a low voter turnout in the next national polls, said a political scientist.
Prof Wong Chin Huat told The Vibes that the coalition must make sacrifices to move forward after failing to regain Putrajaya and prepare itself for the 15th general election – which may take place in 18 months once Covid-19 has been contained.
He said two important issues may adversely affect PH’s unity in the near future.
“The first is (the disagreement) about whether to take up the offer of (former prime minister) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who wanted to reject kleptocratic leaders and adopt reforms from limiting the top leadership term to enacting an anti-hopping law.”
Muhyiddin had, on the days leading to his resignation, made a desperate plea to the opposition – support him in a confidence vote in Parliament on September 7, and he would push forward reforms stated in the 2018 PH election manifesto.
However, his request was snubbed by political rivals, with PH members and some Umno leaders describing the offer as “daylight bribery” on live television.
Wong said the division within the coalition will grow bigger, especially after Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob replaced Muhyiddin as prime minister.
“This (rift) will continue if the former Umno president (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) and (current president) Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, or others get off the hook (with corruption court cases), or if Umno mismanages the country.”
However, he noted that it is important that the rejection of the “olive branch” was unanimous across the opposition bench, noting that Muda, Pejuang, and Warisan were also on the same page as PH.
The second issue is the rivalry between PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, according to Wong.
He said both leaders have been gunning for support from both sides of the aisle so they may take the top post.
“It is very much the continuity of the decades-old Anwar-Mahathir rift.
“Anwar’s claim of enjoying Umno rebels’ support is now proven false. No way will Umno MPs support an outsider against an Umno prime minister and risk annihilation by the grassroots in the next general election.
“Shafie’s claim that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and others will abandon Ismail Sabri had the PH candidate been him is equally fictitious. GPS will not benefit from abandoning a working partnership just to support its ‘neighbour’ to be prime minister.
“This rivalry will continue and may threaten to split the opposition unless rules are set for the race to take the top post.
“To conflate the two will only split the opposition deeper and longer, beyond the Anwar-Shafie rivalry. All of them will be punished by voters, who may simply stay at home instead of going to vote.”
The competition between the opposition leaders, coupled with their failure to seize Putrajaya when an opening had been presented has also courted negative attention on social media.
However, former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has been blamed the most for instigating nine others to betray the then ruling PH government, via the infamous Sheraton Move last February.
Following this stunning betrayal, Anwar has been criticised for failing to steer his coalition back to Putrajaya.
PH is stuck as the opposition again, despite securing victory in the last national polls – a success many have attributed to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Both Anwar and Dr Mahathir also find themselves in a peculiar position, as their rivals unite to seize a simple majority after much negotiation last week, following Muhyiddin’s resignation after 17 months heading the government.
Then there is DAP, a party unable to shake off its purported brand of Chinese chauvinism, which has since worsened with the involvement of secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in a corruption court case. – The Vibes, August 25, 2021
