Political alliances almost always come with compromises, says Nik Nazmi

 The Bersama co-leader responds to a suggestion that they work with influential parties to win seats in elections.

Bersama co-leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said if the only purpose of politics is to get into the state assembly, Parliament or Cabinet, then he and the party’s co-leader, Rafizi Ramli, had already achieved it.

PETALING JAYA:

Bersama co-leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad says alliances with other parties “almost always come with compromises”.

His comment follows a suggestion for Bersama to work with influential parties to win seats in elections.

In a post on Threads, Nik Nazmi said these compromises were political and policy-related and would eventually affect the party’s principles.

“This is one of the reasons so many Malaysians have become cynical about politics in the first place.”

The former PKR vice-president was responding to political commentator and FMT columnist Tajuddin Rasdi who yesterday wrote that Wawasan’s win in the Negeri Sembilan polls on Aug 1 served as a lesson for Bersama.

Tajuddin contended that new parties needed to join forces with more established parties.

Wawasan won three of the four seats it contested last Saturday under the Perikatan Nasional logo.

Nik Nazmi then wondered who exactly Tajuddin thought Bersama should work with.

“Bersatu, which actually received fewer votes in Negeri Sembilan than Bersama did in Johor? The newly launched Barisan Nasional-PN alliance, which already looks like a marriage of convenience and may well collapse under the weight of its own contradictions?”

Nik Nazmi said Pakatan Harapan had been “far too slow” in delivering many of the promised institutional and economic reforms.

Nik Nazmi said if the only purpose of politics is to get into the state assembly, Parliament or Cabinet, then he and the party’s co-leader, Rafizi Ramli, had already done that.

He said he and Rafizi did not start Bersama because they wanted another position, but because they wanted to push for reforms and offer an alternative.

“In the end, the most influential partner any political party should seek is not another political party – it is the Malaysian people.” - FMT