Leaders of new parties still a mystery

How are they going to get support if they do not inform the public on who their leaders are, asks a political analyst.

PETALING JAYA: While the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has officially recognised four political parties in the peninsula, only the identity of the office bearer of one party is known while those of the other three remains a mystery.

While the president of Malaysian Indian Justice Party (MIJP) is V Krishna, the office bearers of the New Generation Party (Newgen Party), Malaysian National Party (MNP) and People’s National Party of Malaysia had yet to stake their claim on their respective parties.

When asked to comment on the situation, political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said it was crucial for the background of the founders to be known.

“We do not know who they are. As new political parties, they need members and supporters. How are they going to get supporters if they do not inform the public of who their leaders are.

“Only when the leaders are known can they decide to join a particular political party,” he said to again reiterate the importance of the public knowing their leaders.

Meanwhile, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Dean of Student Development and Alumni, College of Law, Goverment and International Studies, Muhammad Fuad Othman opined that it was crucial for political parties to be transparent.

“Their background is unclear, we do not know exactly the causes that they are championing.They should be transparent because people nowadays are particular about transparency. People would want to know exactly who are behind these parties,” he said.

On Monday, the ROS approved 20 new political parties where 11 were in Sabah, five in Sarawak and four in the peninsula.

When asked whether there was the possibility of these parties joining the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in the 14th general election, Khoo said BN would not endorse such a strategy.

“I do not think their registration was initiated by BN. Further, BN is against a third force and would not have room for these parties. For example, if it is an Indian party, MIC would reject them,” Khoo said.

He added that if these parties were planning to join the BN coalition, then it would not be a smart move because “it is not easy to get seats.”

Muhammad Fuad also agreed with Khoo’s statement by saying that BN strictly monitors parties which want to be a part of them.

He said these parties have different causes but could consider joining BN if they could find something in common.

“However, BN stringently filters those who want to join them as a component party. Not everyone can join BN. If these parties do not carry the same interests as the other component parties in BN, then I do not think BN will include them,” he said.