No sign of unity in the Opposition

AFTER humiliating defeats in three state elections – in Johor, Melaka, and Sarawak – Pakatan Harapan is now caught in a bind.

There is no love lost between the coalition and other Opposition parties, but all of them are acutely aware that multi-cornered fights will only bring disaster.

In a bid to claw back into the reckoning, top Pakatan leaders have been calling for cooperation under a “big tent” approach, with a united Opposition bloc to take on Barisan Nasional – much like what was done in 2018.

It is a strategy which could see Opposition parties like Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) and Parti Warisan (Warisan) working with Pakatan to take on a common enemy.

The move to unite the fragmented Opposition has been proposed numerous times by party grassroots and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim since last year.

DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng also chimed in on the issue on March 14.

The big question, though, would be: Can the big tent strategy take off before the 15th General Election (GE15), given the melee going on among Opposition parties, especially during the recent Johor state election?

Universiti Malaya political analyst Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, for one, feels the big tent approach can only work if Opposition parties are willing to set aside “unrealistic” demands during seat negotiations.

“They also have to agree on Anwar as the sole candidate for prime minister and give Pakatan autonomy in seat allocations,” he said.

However, Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, said Anwar is the real stumbling block in the big tent approach as Opposition parties are not likely to agree on him as the numero uno.

“Warisan and Pejuang will not agree. Even within Pakatan, there are those in DAP and Amanah who are not keen on Anwar leading the Opposition into GE15.”

Azmi said it is crucial for Opposition parties to unite again after the rift caused by the so-called Sheraton Move and the collapse of the Pakatan government when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and several PKR MPs left to help form the Perikatan Nasional government in March 2020.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and some Bersatu MPs then went on to launch Pejuang in August 2020 while Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman formed Muda in September 2020.

Since then, the Opposition parties have been at loggerheads, especially over the use of logos for elections.

In Sabah, the parties used three logos – those of PKR, Warisan and Upko – and the Warisan Plus coalition managed 32 seats against Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s 38 seats.

In Melaka, Pakatan decided to use its own logo and PKR was wiped out in all 11 seats it contested. Amanah only retained one while DAP kept four seats.

However, Anwar’s decision to field two defectors – who helped pull the rug from under the Melaka state government on Oct 4 last year – caused friction with DAP.

The ill-will carried on to the Sarawak state election last December with state DAP and PKR leaders openly arguing over seat negotiations.

PKR, DAP and Amanah then decided to go into the state election under their own party logos, contesting 62 of the 73 seats.

The gamble backfired spectacularly. PKR and Amanah were decimated in all their seats while DAP only managed to retain two seats.

The disunity became even more apparent in Johor as PKR decided to use its own logo, while DAP and Amanah contested under the Pakatan logo.

Pejuang also joined the fray, contesting 42 seats while Warisan went for six seats, resulting in multiple multi-cornered clashes.

Muda even failed to avoid a clash with PKR in one seat – Larkin – despite rounds of “tough negotiations”.

Again, it backfired. DAP managed to retain 10 of its 14 seats, Amanah only managed to retain one while PKR retained Bukit Batu by a razor-thin majority of 137 votes.

The three disastrous state elections have since prompted calls for Pakatan to “keep its options open” and consider the possibility of working with the Bersatu-led Perikatan that also has Gerakan, PAS and Sabah STAR in its fold.

However, the shadow of the Sheraton Move still looms large and the “treachery” of Bersatu and several former PKR MPs still rankles.

For Awang Azman, it is unlikely that the two coalitions can cooperate.

“Even if they do, there will be a condition that PAS and Bersatu can only contest in seats they won in the 14th General Election,” added Awang Azman.

Azmi, however, said it is unwise to reject cooperation with Perikatan, as the three state elections have shown that a fragmented Opposition is no match for Barisan.

“Pakatan leaders have to forget their ego, bad blood and anger towards Perikatan, because they have a common enemy – Barisan,” added Azmi.

“Perikatan surely cannot go it alone and I guess there’s no easy way out for Pakatan, especially for DAP.”

DAP has vowed never to work with Bersatu again.

Azmi also said it is crucial for Opposition parties to capture the sentiments of ordinary Malaysians amid the Covid-19 environment.

“The thing about Umno is that it brilliantly capitalised on bread-and-butter issues such as the dire state of the current economy and the EPF withdrawals.

“These are bread-and-butter issues and Umno seized the moment to champion them. Pakatan was slow in catching up on the issues that are of concern to the general population,” he added.