10 ways for Harapan to move firmly forward

 

QUESTION TIME | One thing for certain, Pakatan Harapan cannot continue in the mode that it has adopted since it lost power on Feb 29, 2020, after it was effectively played by the three traitors culminating in the Sheraton move.

It badly needs to change and shed its baggage. The components - PKR, DAP and Amanah - must move as one with a common purpose, strategy, plan and action. That means talking to one another and agreeing on things.

If it works out that they can cooperate and do things, the eventual goal should be to have one single multiracial party to serve the interests of all Malaysians. We are running ahead of ourselves.

There is much work to be done but there is hope. Remember that in the Johor elections, BN got just 43 percent of votes cast. Harapan and Muda (to which Harapan surrendered six seats) collectively got 30 percent, with PN 24 percent.

That’s not an impossible gap to bridge - 13 percentage points between BN and Harapan/Muda - considering the extremely low turnout of just 55 percent this time compared to 75 percent in the previous elections in May 2018.

The 20 percentage points difference in turnout can make a huge difference to the results. Harapan should re-energise voters by giving them reasons to come out and vote. Hopefully at the 15th general elections, more Malaysians will be motivated to vote and take matters into their own hands as to who will rule the country.

Here are 10 ways Harapan can move forward and become relevant again. There are more ways of course but this would be the bare minimum.

1. Accept your current position

This is absolutely necessary. Forget all hopes of making alliances with other parties and persons of dubious reputation to regain power that has been lost. Aligning with the wrong people for example Dr Mahathir Mohamad resulted in Harapan losing power after having gained it.

The coalition’s obsession with regaining power resulted in neglect of the voters and their increasing disenchantment with Harapan and its loss of its ideals.

Way too much time, which could have been better spent focusing on building the strength of the coalition, has been wasted on the futile struggle to get back to power, resulting in those massive defeats in Sarawak, Malacca and Johor.

2. Stick to the straight and narrow

With all the mixed messages that Harapan was giving even while in power - enticing opposition members to join it, forgetting about manifesto promises, delaying reforms, etc, the public was already getting disillusioned.

The disgraceful behaviour continued after losing power, with the focus on trying to form fresh alliances and enticing MPs from other parties to get back to power, further alienating the ground. Harapan needs to stick to the straight and narrow to gain and maintain the ground and to eventually win.

3. Go back to basics and the ground

Harapan has strayed way too much from what it was before - a struggle for reform, democratic rights and improvement of the welfare of all Malaysians. It needs to go back to those basics and explain clearly to the public what it will do and how.

Among these are inclusive policies, an uncompromising fight against corruption, building national unity, reducing wastage, sustainable growth with equitable development, good and honest economic management, revamping the education system and increasing incomes and reducing disparities.

4. Show courageous and enlightened leadership

From the time of the problems with Mahathir, who refused to step down in favour of Anwar Ibrahim as agreed, leadership has been poor, lacking imagination and way too preoccupied with regaining power, even if it meant the sacrifice of key principles. The usual excuse is that politics is a dirty game. But the rakyat voted Harapan in hoping for better.

It is time for a more decisive leadership, less compromising on key principles and beliefs, and zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour. If ties have to be cut, so be it. If defeats have to happen, so be it. The long-term goal of reform, integrity and improved governance has to be paramount.

5. Go it alone

The core group of coalition partners are already there - PKR, DAP and Amanah. Stick with them. No need to expand the coalition beyond that by catering to all manner of new parties, including Muda and Warisan whose motives are highly questionable. By now, the lesson about who to admit into the coalition should be crystal clear.

A national party should already be contesting every seat in the peninsula - BN is already doing that and Harapan, must also do so. If necessary and if there are no possibilities of holy alliances, do the same in Sabah and Sarawak too. You may not win big but a start has to be made sometime

6. Pick the right candidates

It is time to give younger and more able candidates a chance. Too little time has been spent on the search for the right candidates. Ideally, candidates should have been chosen months, and even years, ahead so that they can work the ground and an assessment of their performance made before they are confirmed.

In fact, Harapan should be bold enough to have a shadow cabinet, members of whom will be tasked with watching how the current government performs, making critical comments and suggesting what Harapan would do instead. That will increase Harapan’s credibility as a functioning coalition tremendously.

7. Mend bridges within the coalition

Much more needs to be done to improve communications, coordinate strategy and plans, and increase cooperation within the coalition. Right now, the component parties are too interested in running their own agendas. Harapan should formulate agendas which all parties will follow. This will be expanded in the next point.

8. Regain the Malay ground

This is a very important - and terribly touchy - issue. One of the main grouses of Malay voters were economic and finance policies undertaken when DAP held the finance minister’s post - a sly ploy by Mahathir to drive a wedge between PKR and DAP which DAP fell for. Remember, the DAP refrain over cabinet appointments of “prime minister’s prerogative”.

Some of Lim Guan Eng’s policies were rather questionable and political - representing the national debt to be over a trillion ringgit when on a fair comparison and on an international standards basis, it was at least RM300 billion less.

Others include the discontinuation of the goods and services tax (GST) although a halving of the tax to 3 percent would have sufficed. The GST already had over 200 exemptions to reduce its impact on the poor.

Lim did not even entertain suggestions of reducing or setting the GST to zero, including an impassioned plea by the Customs chief then Subromaniam Tholosy but instead replaced it with the inferior sales and services tax.

The repeal of the GST from September 2018 destroyed the GST infrastructure which was effected from April 2015 with many problems already ironed out by then. It destroyed too a ready revenue source for the government which was raised from a consumption, value-added tax which affected the higher income group more.

And then there was the undue haste in refunding some RM35 billion in GST and income taxes funded mainly by special Petronas dividends while at the same time cutting subsidies to fishermen by RM200 million, which rankled the Malays and the lower-income group.

All these would not have endeared DAP to the Malays and those in lower-income groups who would have seen such moves as favouring those who were much better off.

Much needs to be done to regain Malay confidence and work needs to be done with the understanding and cooperation of the DAP which needs to show much more sensitivity and appreciation of the needs of the common man and the working class.

Harapan has an uphill climb when it comes to this because of Malay erosion of trust in DAP but it has to make a start soon.

9. Retain your appeal to all Malaysians

One of the reasons Harapan won GE14 was the strong support it got from non-Malays. While the Malay vote was split between Harapan, Umno, PAS and Bersatu, it won many mixed seats because of non-Malay support.

While regaining the Malay ground is important, getting non-Malay support is not purely an ideological proposition but a position which will help Harapan win, especially under the current circumstances.

It must continue with its inclusive policies which offer help to all disadvantaged people (and none to those with advantage) irrespective of race. If Malays are the most disadvantaged group, they will automatically be helped the most. Let’s stop race being used as the divisive factor and talk about haves and have-nots instead.

10. Don’t lose hope

Finally, live up to your name - Harapan - don’t lose hope. Things look bleak now but things can change. In 2004, PKR reached its low point - winning just one seat, and DAP, 12. But things swung around in 2008 - five states fell to Harapan and BN lost its two-thirds majority. In 2013, the popular vote went to Harapan. Some predicted a Harapan victory in 2018 - and it happened.

Go for it at G15, but you have precious little time, with much of it already squandered. If you don’t succeed at GE15, there is always GE16 and GE17. For now, Harapan is still the only party which can go against the Umno/BN juggernaut and have a possibility of winning.

Nobody else is anywhere close. - Mkini

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P GUNASEGARAM, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research, is an independent writer and consultant.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.