Despite election drubbing, PSM to pursue Muda team-up

PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan believes that since forming a coalition government that includes BN, parties in Pakatan Harapan have strayed from their reformist agenda.

He said that there is a void that needs to be filled by people seeking a progressive voice in Parliament, and despite the dismal results in the Aug 12 state elections, PSM will continue to build ties with Muda.

“Electoral politics is here to stay. The success of Undi18 and voter turnout averaging above 70 percent seem to indicate most Malaysians put trust in the electoral system.

"For PSM, we are very conscious that under the first-past-the-post scenario, electoral gains are impossible as it favours the two biggest parties/coalitions, which in today’s terms are Harapan-BN vs Perikatan Nasional.

“In the recent state elections, PSM, Muda and Parti Rakyat Malaysia lost all seats as well as deposits. For PSM, our result this time was much better marginally compared to the last election in terms of percentage votes gained but we are in no way close to winning any seats.

“PSM to win seats needs to be part of the big two coalitions or build a third force. Third force meaning a party or coalition which can be a real alternative; standing in two-thirds of the parliamentary seats and standing in all state seats. Standing in just a few seats we cannot convince the people that we are a third force,” he told Malaysiakini.

Strengthening the third force

Since its formation, PSM had made some electoral inroads in 2008 and 2013 when Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj won Sungai Siput when contesting under the PKR banner. However, once it went solo in 2018, the party endured comprehensive defeats.

Similarly, Muda was able to win a parliamentary seat in last year’s general election through Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in Muar where it did not have to face a Harapan candidate but got trounced in the state elections when the party contested independently of Harapan.

Notably, both PSM and Muda had tried to engage Harapan either as a direct member of the coalition or with an electoral agreement, only to be rebuffed or ignored.

“PSM will be having an important congress in October to discuss this but the latest discussion within the party is to strengthen the third force significantly as we think there is a real need for more centre-left, people-centric politics as right-wing politics seems to be the dominant force.

“Harapan has regressed more to the right with its newly formed alliance with BN.

“We also think that we need to take a lesson from PAS and build our membership seriously because supporters tend to vote according to mainstream sentiments whereas party members will solidly stand by you,” said Arutchelvan.

He added his belief that despite holding a comfortable parliamentary majority and winning in Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Selangor, the unity government was going down by the day.

“The Malays are not convinced whereas the non-Malays are getting frustrated with the unity government and are merely voting out of fear. Indian voters have also slowly started supporting PN as they see more opportunities there.

“In the last state elections, we tried to convince voters that if they vote for us, we will sign a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with the ruling party as people deserve a better candidate instead of having to choose from the better of the two evils.

“But we failed to convince the voters as the fear of the 'Green Wave' was overwhelming. We presume this trend will continue unless Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim does something radical like dumping Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and working with the other camps in Umno.

“Until then, the voters will vote according to race and religion based on their respective fears,” he said.

Previously, PSM had considered forming a left coalition with PRM, which had its historical socialist parties such as the Socialist Front and Parti Socialist Rakyat Malaysia (PSRM).

However, the latter party appears to be ideologically ambivalent and has tended to feature exiles from mainstream parties including former DAP assemblyperson Jenice Lee, former PKR MP S Manikavasagam and former Umno senator Ezam Mohd Nor. Indeed, Ezam, who is now PRM deputy president, issued a statement that the party would go it alone without collaborating with other parties or blocs.

“In the last state elections, we only managed to forge an electoral understanding with Muda but there was not much time for us to actually work on a larger coalition among the smaller parties.

“Ezam’s statement a few weeks before the election that they are against socialist ideology took us by surprise because it goes against all that the party has stood up all these years.

"We were later told that it was not the party position but there was no official statement from PRM clarifying this.

“On the other hand, the PSM-Muda understanding was good in the sense that both parties can gain on the issue of policies as well as youthfulness. Yet the understanding was a last-minute effort and hence a more coordinated election campaign together was not undertaken,” Arutchelvan added.

Building cooperation on four levels

He said that PSM had had some preliminary discussions with Muda in the aftermath of the state elections and they believe that there is something to build on.

“For a start, PSM and Muda have discussed building the cooperation on four levels – structures, policies, elections and joint activities. We also tend to invite other parties such as PRM,” he said.

Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy

PSM is also open to holding discussions with other parties and individuals such as former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy and the Green Party of Malaysia.

He added that even though PSM was a very small force in terms of electoral support, the party would continue to pressure for reforms and speak out for the downtrodden and marginalised. He reminded Harapan that the coalition used to champion local government elections.

“The best hope for local government elections was in 2018 when Harapan won and promised it in its manifesto. Then local government and housing minister Zuraida Kamarudin also did set some timeline.

“But today, this task looks difficult and uphill because the ruling parties are comfortable in just appointing their cronies and yes-men rather than going into an election. Perhaps, Anwar can be persuaded but it seems that he is not prepared to take up major reforms.

“PSM has successfully campaigned and helped implement two major policies in Malaysia – the Minimum Wage Act and the Workers Insurance Scheme.

"We strongly believe that if we can do a huge campaign on this from below and get local residential groups involved, we may be able to force state governments to hold local elections.

“Many people are in favour of this but there is no strong campaign or initiative like Bersih on this issue. It is time we led this campaign which will also be part of our own survival,” he said. - Mkini