Cracks deepen but PH can’t afford a break-up, say analysts

 

Analyst Jeniri Amir said Pakatan Harapan’s woes had been building up, with doubts over Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership and poor showings in the Melaka and Sarawak elections. (Twitter pic)

PETALING JAYA: A political analyst says cracks in Pakatan Harapan are deepening, but the former ruling coalition is unlikely to break up because its main component parties are too weak to stand on their own.

“DAP cannot win the hearts and minds of Malay voters. Amanah is a small party and PKR is at its weakest point,” said Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir.

He said PKR lost a lot of its strength when those linked to former deputy president Azmin Ali quit the party.

Recent issues in Johor, such as PKR’s choice to forgo using the PH logo and the party’s unhappiness over Amanah’s surrendering of the Puteri Wangsa seat to Muda, also showed the state of disunity in the party, he said.

Jeniri Amir.

Jeniri said he did not believe that PH would ever be as strong as it was in the run-up to the 2018 general election, but felt there was little they could do about it.

He said it was clear that PH’s woes had been building up since the “Sheraton Move” of 2020, with doubts over Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership in the coalition and poor showings in the Melaka and Sarawak elections.

A change of leadership would not help at this point, he said and PH had no alternative to its chairman Anwar, who had struggled to muster enough support from MPs to form a government.

“PH needs new narratives and should move away from issues like 1MDB or (former prime minister) Najib Razak. It just doesn’t resonate with the people any more. Harping on 1MDB will not take them anywhere.

“People seem more confident with BN because they are fed up, they don’t want a minority government that is seen as unstable. They want a more stable government that can revive the economy and ensure a more conducive environment for businesses,” said Jeniri.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia also said the rift in PH seemed to be growing.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

He said component parties must start promoting the idea of PH as a government-in-waiting and open its doors to the likes of Muda.

“PH needs to be receptive to youth and show that it is not afraid of big changes and diversity.”

He said this was because PH’s ethos was built on the need to reform society, following decades of mismanagement under BN’s rule.

“History of any reform movement will show that the youth play an indispensable role. In fact, one factor behind Umno’s decline has been party-manufactured bottlenecks blocking the rise of a younger strata of leaders.

“Now with Undi18 and automatic voter registration, opening party doors to the young couldn’t be more important for PH to carve a permanent place in national politics.” - FMT