With good governance wanting, great economic uncertainy and divisive politics very much the norm in the Najib administration the next general election would probably have been a shoo-in for the opposition but that’s not the case anymore.
The much-hoped for alternative to Barisan Nasional that exhilarated voters to bring on the 13 general election (GE) tsunami is no longer coherent and unified in purpose.
Cracks in Pakatan 1.0 grew into intractable chasms and subsequently sank the coalition with never-ending recrimination and bad blood.
Pakatan supporters are rightly dismayed by the side show being played out in the opposition camp and it makes them despair.
In short, the demise of Pakatan 1.0 is a huge disappointment to the people who have long yearned and worked for change only to see their struggle and goodwill squandered away.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional (BN) have exploited Pakatan Rakyat’s weaknesses and destabilise it, for instance, with the introduction (or non-introduction) of a bill to implement hudud law by PAS leader Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in Parliament.
Driving a wedge between opposition parties has been a winning formula for BN and it would undoubtedly resort to it again to thwart any potential rival coalition, neutralising any threat to its grip on Putrajaya.
Is it premature then to write off PKR’s current initiative to stitch together a Pakatan 2.0, or a similar alliance, or an agreement of some sort?
The challenges are indeed formidable but without a formal, viable and sustainable coalition, or electoral accord among opposition parties, the plans to capture Putrajaya will remain a distant dream.
Not only are DAP and PAS are at loggerheads, the emergence of the Islamist party’s breakway faction under the Parti Amanah Negara banner has added another troubling twist to intra-coalition dynamics.
DAP may have found a new ally in the form of Amanah led by Mohamad Sabu but the yet unregistered party is an untested entity and as such is a high-risk gambit.
Both DAP and Amanah have baulked at the inclusion of PAS in Pakatan 2.0, and not without good reason.
PAS’s stance on the opposition bloc has been ambiguous at best, giving the impression that the party is exploring all options, even toying with the notion of teaming up with its erstwhile friend/foe Umno once more.
Hadi has been scathing about DAP and its resistance to hudud, and has stayed away from negotiations with PKR. He is one person who could derail any PAS compact with any party.
On the other hand, party deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan have been at pains to appear less hardline, even conciliatory.
A good cop, bad cop act?
Trust is in short supply in the opposition leadership.There is a dire need to build respect and faith among the leaders once again.
Amanah, PKR, DAP and PAS each has the potential to play the spoiler’s role that is driven by hate and spite in multi-cornered contests in GE14.
It is a scenario that will certainly delight BN and facilitate the return of its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
No one has come up yet with a circuit breaker to the impasse although the ever-optimistic PKR secretary-general, Rafizi Ramli, is confident of reaching a resolution in the not too distant future, possibly as early as mid-October.
Let not political expediency be the single overarching criterion in the formulation of the new alliance least it be perceived by the public as merely a rehash of Pakatan 1.0 with all its shortcomings.
This won’t wash with those felt betrayed by the break-up of Pakatan 1.0 as they fear a repeat of intra-coalition conflicts such as the hudud bill and the Selangor menteri besar crisis which inflicted considerable damage to the brand and its vitality.
Assurances of a fine-tuned, credible and trustworthy Pakatan 2.0 will only gain traction with the voters when there is a binding agreement and the outstanding issues resolved.
Amanah, PKR, PAS and DAP may make strange bedfellows but against a well-oiled (and funded) BN machinery it would be to their detriment to strike out on their own.
As they say, disunity is death in politics. Furthermore the bickering and animosity in the opposition dishonour those from all walks of life who have struggled to build up Pakatan.
Malaysians deserve better. – September 18, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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