I AM glad that Pakatan Harapan has agreed to have an electoral pact with a fraternal party like Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
Recently, I suggested that Pakatan should form an electoral pact with the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) and PSM in strengthening the coalition’s position against UMNO/Barisan Nasional (BN).
I suggested that PSM being a socialist political party has many things in common with Pakatan component parties such as DAP and PKR.
In the 2008 and 2013 polls, PSM president Dr Michael Jayakumar contested and won the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency. He was dubbed a “giant killer” after defeating the former late MIC president the late Tun S. Samy Vellu in the 2008 General Election.
In both elections, Jayakumar contested under the banner of PKR. I am not sure why there was no electoral pact with Pakatan in the 2018 GE.
Maybe the need on the part of the PSM to contest under its own banner was not to the satisfaction of the Pakatan.
Minor misunderstandings and differences are common between political parties such as PSM with PKR and DAP. However, these differences should not overshadow the commonalities between these political parties.
United front to eradicate corruption
The struggle for good governance and the fight against corruption are enough to unite all these political parties.
More importantly, the overriding concern to better a lot of the poor and disadvantaged in the country is enough to serve as a common denominator to strengthen their bond.
Moreover, their bewilderment at the level of corruption should unite the parties under an electoral front against UMNO/BN.
The latter is the source of all things wrong with this country. PSM’s long years of sustained hard work among workers and peasants might be something beneficial to the Pakatan.
Pakatan’s broad macro framework of alternative politics might provide the super-structural basis for the groundwork done by PSM.
The agreement is about a united front electoral pact – not that PSM wants to join Pakatan as another component party or vice versa. At least this is not the intention at the moment.
Pakatan might be a bit concerned about the fact that PSM has a socialist label affixed to it. Given the history of opposition to socialism/communism, PSM as the revolutionary variant might have the problem of general acceptance.
Common grounds
However, there is no need to worry because the socialism embraced by PSM is an evolutionary one as opposed to the revolutionary one that is associated with armed struggle.
To some extent, the DAP has long accepted the brand of socialism that focuses on parliamentary participation in the advancement of the rights of workers and other disadvantaged sections of society.
Democratic socialism is a broad concept – its adherents might emphasise some aspects and not others.
Similarly, the diluted subaltern ideology of PKR might not vary fundamentally from PSM and DAP at least when it comes to the focus on the disadvantaged sections of society.
Ideologically, these political parties have much in common. They have the natural tendency to offer solutions for the betterment of society, the narrowing of the gap between the rich and the poor and most importantly to bring about better governance.
They function within the ambit of the constitutional monarchy of the country.
PSM in the electoral pact will complement the other political parties in the Pakatan coalition. Together, they must be focused first on getting rid of UMNO/BN from the country’s political landscape. – Oct 16, 2022
Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: Malaysiakini
