Road to Putrajaya: Can Anwar change Harapan's mind about Umno?

 

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's plan to build a political bridge with Umno has one major obstacle - disapproval from his own allies.

Barely a day after the PKR president confirmed that unofficial talks with Umno were underway, representatives from five opposition parties, including Pakatan Harapan components, issued a statement urging Anwar not to work with 'kleptocrats' - referring to certain Umno leaders who are facing corruption charges in court.

This creates a quandary, as it is this faction in Umno - led by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - that Anwar is believed to be engaging with.

Does this mean a dead end for Anwar to make Umno part of his political equations?

"I think the statement is meant as a reminder to Anwar of the red line held by other Harapan component parties, that any political realignment among the parties must not compromise the fundamental principles held by the coalition," Ivy Kwek, a political analyst with DAP-linked Research for Social Advancement (Refsa) told Malaysiakini.

She said the principles include fighting kleptocracy, which was a cause that brought Harapan together.

But if the line in the sand turns out to be the exact people who Anwar is talking to, then convincing both Zahid's faction and Harapan to come to terms will be a difficult task.

Thus, for geostrategist Azmi Hassan, the statement rejecting kleptocrats is just a way to show disapproval of Anwar's plans.

"So for me, the statement was issued as an excuse to not continue with the cooperation plan. Kleptocrats were mentioned only to stop Anwar," he said.

This is as both Umno and PKR's allies - especially DAP - would find it hard to reconcile their differences.

"Umno will be Umno. It is hard for them to accept several parties in Harapan.

"And so is the case with Harapan, especially for DAP and its grassroots. It would be really hard for them to accept Umno. And vice versa," Azmi said.

On Umno's side, the demonising of DAP has been repeated so often for years that its grassroots believe that working with DAP is akin to betraying their Malay-Muslim agenda.

Likewise, for DAP, Umno's brand of racial politics is what the party and its supporters have been fighting against for decades.

But in politics, even bitter rivalries can be set aside to achieve a goal.

Harapan took in its greatest foe Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Umno is now in a pact with PAS - which used to label the Malay party as 'kafirs'.

"We must accept that in politics, there is no such thing as a permanent friend and permanent enemy. The only thing permanent in politics is the interest of the parties involved," said Universiti Malaya socio-political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi.

As such, he said cooperation between Harapan and Umno is not impossible, even if it may not be immediate.

"There is nothing impossible in politics. I believe that if they (Umno and Harapan) have common goals and a common enemy, they would be able to work together in the end," he said.

DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke, who is against working with kleptocrats, has not ruled out the possibility of working with Umno, especially if there is no clear winner in the next general election (GE).

"If the next GE does not create a clear winner, you have to think about how to form new partnerships, new coalition partners, and that can only come after the GE," he had said.

In fact, Harapan and DAP have already worked together with Umno recently.

Last December, they united to get rid of Bersatu's Perak menteri besar and now have a confidence and supply agreement with the Umno-led state government where all assemblypersons get equal allocations.

Getting Umno on his side could be the last piece of the puzzle for Anwar to retake Putrajaya for Harapan.

At present, Harapan has 88 lawmakers on its side, while Umno has 38.

Combined, that would make up 126 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, more than enough to form the federal government.

With such an arrangement, Anwar would not need to rely on support from Pejuang and Warisan - which are aligned to his rival Mahathir. - Mkini