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Election official |
Sign in this Malaysian general election point to a worrying trend for ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) — a stronger, more united opposition.
After much wrangling, the nation’s three largest opposition parties — Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat — reached a gentlemen’s agreement to avoid three-corner fights last Friday. But whether this will translate into the re-emergence of Barisan Alternatif — a formal coalition of opposition parties first formed two elections ago — hinges squarely on the shoulders of the DAP leaders.
After all, it was the Chinese-backed party that had broken the alliance after its crushing defeat at the 1999 polls. They withdrew from the alliance days after the 911 terror attacks in 2001. Its leaders then believed that partnering the PAS, which wants to transform Malaysia into an Islamic state, had cost it crucial non-Muslim votes.
But the PAS has now softened its Islamist tack in the run-up to the upcoming March 8 poll — campaigning on bread-and-butter issues, speaking up against BN for dissolving Parliament during the Chinese New Year celebrations and even fielding its first non-Muslim candidate.
The new and improved PAS is not the only reason to urge DAP leaders to rethink the Barisan Alternatif coalition. There is also the Anwar Ibrahim factor: The former Deputy Prime Minister had bridged the PAS-DAP divide. Some believed that his role of mediator between the ideologically-contrary parties was crucial to the realisation of the opposition seat allocation pact.
But are these developments enough to convince DAP leaders to to agree to adopt Barisan Alternatif?
Malaysia is not short of sceptics when it comes to the prospect of an alternative opposition front.
Mr Abdullah on Saturday called the opposition’s loose alliance “a pact of political expediency”. “Objectively speaking, they are not credible. It is a pact of convenience with no shared beliefs or ideology,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
Reporters from a Malay daily last Friday suggested the opposition’s pact had been detrimental, forcing them to scramble for seats. They also likened the PAS and the DAP to a “boy and girl who could fall in love, but never marry”.
Political observer Associate Professor Shamsul Amri Baharudin of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), meanwhile, offered a more measured reading. Last Friday, in a Malay current affairs television programme, he said while the opposition seems to be working more closely together, there is no indication that they intend to formalise this cooperation into something more.
Explaining his stand, Prof Shamsul said they were united during the 1999 polls because of a “common enemy”, alluding to then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who sacked and later charged Mr Anwar with corruption and sodomy.
With a new Prime Minister in office, there was no need for Barisan Alternatif, he said. But more than the absence of a “common enemy”, the rebirth of Barisan Alternatif would be plagued by internal politicking, caused by none other than the DAP itself.
In hotly-contested Penang, for instance, a rift has developed between its local leaders and “parachute candidates”.
Its top leaders may have decided to field new candidates such as blogger-turned-politician Jeff Ooi there but Penang-born DAP leaders criticised the move to sideline them.
Then, there is also the peculiar case of its star candidate Fong Po Kuan, who won the Batu Gajah seat in Perak by a resounding 7,927-vote majority in the 2004 polls.
Ms Fong announced on Feb 17 that she would not defend her seat, citing internal politicking. Then, last Friday, the 34-year-old decided she would defend her seat after all.
With the Fong flip-flop and the Penang rift, critics say the DAP is undergoing a crisis.
Yet, one should not completely write off the rebirth of Barisan Alternatif, especially if the opposition reaches its collective aim, that is, to deny BN a two-third parliamentary majority, or 75 seats. But the DAP may be satisfied with a lower target of 40 seats, as projected by DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang.
Such results, if achievable, could make the idea of a formal alternative front with an Islamist party alluring to the DAP again. TODAY
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