What on earth is going on with Pakatan Harapan?

Pakatan Harapan suddenly seems to be in disarray. There are signs of open conflict.

There was the bill for unilateral conversion in the state assembly put forward by Selangor's chief minister. There was the proposal for khat to be taught in Standard 4 put forward by the Education Ministry, where the deputy minister is from the DAP.

There was also the decision to extend the licence for Lynas where the minister in charge is also from the DAP. Then there were these talks in Kelantan by Zakir Naik during which he questioned the loyalty of Indian Malaysians and the status of Chinese Malaysians. Finally, there was the call for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to step down.

Clearly, there are signs of the ground shifting under the DAP over some of these issues. Grassroots Chinese and Indians are unhappy with things and prepared to express their views strongly.

But before that, there was the meeting between Mahathir and members of the opposition. What was that about? Mahathir said that he meets with everybody.

The Chinese and Indians are up in arms over Zakir's (photo) statements and are calling for swift action. Initially, the response was muted. It was as if Zakir could do no wrong. Some felt that his support base had grown so large that even Mahathir could not move against him.

Others felt that he was being used by Mahathir to galvanise the Malays into one cohesive whole. In fact, the conspiracy theorists say that everything is being orchestrated to provoke the non-Malays to react furiously, and their reaction would provoke a more furious reaction from the Malays bringing them together. As an example, they asked why khat was introduced at this time?

I think that the conspiracy theorists have got it all wrong. I think that nothing has really changed. The precise date on which Mahathir hands over the reins of power to Anwar Ibrahim remains unspecified. I believe that the prime minister will step down when the time is right. And while Mahathir wants more Malay support, he is not calling for Malays to unite against the non-Malays. That is the playbook of PAS.

I honestly believe that khat was a storm in a teacup. It was something decided by the previous government, and it slipped through the scrutiny of the leadership who genuinely believed that it was a non-issue. I initially believed that it was a non-issue and was shocked at the vehemence of the reactions.

Reading all the articles on it I can understand the concern about covert attempts at conversion. What will they write about when they learn khat? The Analects of Confucius? Or verses from the Thirukural? Education Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching probably misjudged the feelings on the ground, as did Lim Kit Siang. The situation has since been dealt with.

Lynas was always going to be a difficult situation. It was a big investment, and our government had agreed to it. Foreign Investors had put their money in the ground and revoking the licence now would effectively mean destroy the business.

I am not sure whether we would be required to compensate them? I suppose the central issue remains the safety of Malaysians. What happens to the waste that has already been created? How much is there, how toxic is the waste, and how is it going to be disposed of? An earlier condition for the waste to be sent to Australia clearly cannot be complied with. Will Malaysians be at risk?

The second question is what happens now? Do they continue to bring the unprocessed raw material from Australia? Do they carry on processing the earth here and producing the waste? How much more waste will be produced? And how many people will be at risk here?

It will be difficult for Malaysians to accept that the earth is considered toxic in Australia and unsafe for processing in Australia, and yet it is okay for Malaysians to bear the risk and for whose benefit? The minister in charge - in fact, the prime minister - owes Malaysians an explanation.

As for Zakir, there has been a chorus of voices demanding that he shut up or be sent out of the country. Not just from non-Malays but prominent Malays as well, such as Rafidah Aziz, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Kadir Jasin, Syed Hamid Albar, and Marina Mahathir. The police have also acted, and Mahathir has issued a strong statement.

A question remains, do many Malays support a man who is bent on causing trouble between the different people of Malaysia? Will our more than a century of shared experiences count for nothing? Is what PAS president Hadi Awang said holds true? That religion will trump nationality every time? I do not believe so.

The relationship between the races on the ground has always been good. It has not been our practice to criticise and condemn the religious beliefs of others. There has always been mutual respect. However, the Indira Gandhi (photo) and pastor Raymond Koh cases have put many non-Malays on edge. Zakir grew in popularity during the years when Mahathir was in retirement, and he is not responsible for his rock star Zakir's non-Muslim bashing popularity in Malaysia today or at least in Kelantan.

The bill on unilateral conversion was never going anywhere. It was misconceived and would not have passed muster given the recent Federal Court decision in the Indira Gandhi case.

As for Koon and his silly remarks about the army, that was a one-off statement unconnected with anything else, and he has since apologised.

When we analyse each of the above issues, the conspiracy theories dissolve and disappear. Of course, there are groups within the opposition, and possibly within the administration, that have an Islamic agenda, including PAS.

Having said all of that there is something seriously wrong with how Harapan conducts business. The opposition appears to have succeeded in portraying the coalition at odds with itself. It portrayed DAP as the controller, Anwar as the pawn soft on DAP's machinations and Mahathir being under siege from his own people.

So leaders of PAS and UMNO rush to comfort him and reassure him of their support to reinforce the rifts within the party. Or at least to dramatise the perception of such a rift.

And how does Harapan respond to this? Is it beyond Harapan to discuss their issues behind closed doors? Can they not come together and agree on a common vision for the country?

Each component has to accept that ideological issues have to be buried as the business of government has to be more practical and should focus primarily on strengthening the economy and improving the lives of the people, especially the poor.

Radical reform of education must be a priority. Why do we continue to dither about English language proficiency? Bring back English literature. Make it a compulsory subject with examinations only at the option of students, at least for the time being.

For all our sakes, Mahathir, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail Muhyiddin Yassin, Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, Mohamed Sabu, Lim Guan Eng and all the leaders in Harapan, please get your act together and present a common front to the nation and the world.

There is a clear need for better vigilance and more effective communication of policies and actions taken to the masses. There is a need for the temperature to be lowered and calm to be restored. All Malaysians will have to lower expectations and accept some degree of compromise. That has always been our way. There is no option apart from Harapan, not now anyway.

Harapan promised change. It promised a more inclusive government. Let us see more of both.

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DAVID DASS is a lawyer and Malaysiakini subscriber/commenter.