THE recent Melaka polls might have been a setback for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition but it is certainly not the end of the coalition, said a deputy chief minister.
Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said that UMNO/Barisan Nasional making a comeback in the Melaka does not mean that the future is bright for the coalition.
“The point that has to be taken seriously is the fact that PH has been seriously battered in the last few years,” he pointed out.
“Once a proud coalition that had captured national power, PH was reduced to nothing, having trusted the arch-racist Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“If only the coalition had put pressure on Dr Mahathir to relinquish the prime minister post in favour of [PH chairman and PKR president] Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it would have been a different story.”
The Perai assemblyman further claimed that for having trusted Dr Mahathir, PH had to pay a costly price; hardly 22 months in power, the Sheraton Move had deposed the legitimate PH government.
“All the popularity and painful build-up to victory in the last general election (GE14) were all lost within a short period, and it was back to the wilderness as the racist and extremist religious forces reared their heads,” he remarked.
According to Ramasamy, PH is licking its wounds now, and the failed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the new MoU with the current Government are further indications of the dispirited PH.
“The Melaka polls were just a sad reminder that PH has got a long way to go although time might not be on its side.
“There is nothing definitive in the results of the Melaka election. Yes, BN won with a resounding majority of 21 out of 28 seats, but in terms of the popular votes, PH closely trailed BN with about two percentage points.
“If only we had an electoral system that factored in the percentage of popular votes, then PH would not have fared that badly,” he noted.
Ramasamy went on to point out that future discussions about electoral system reform must be considered and must go beyond the present system of the first-past-the-post principle.
With UMNO already flexing its muscles in calling for an earlier general election, the next one (GE15) might not be too far away, he added.
“There is growing belief that after Melaka, BN might be able to repeat its stellar performance at national level but the Melaka polls is a state election, and whether there is any relationship to the national level remains to be seen.
“PH might be out in the Melaka election, but it is definitely not out at national level. Rather than worrying too much about what had happened during the Melaka state polls, preparations have to be made for GE15.
“In the last general election, things were in favour of PH. Its high morale in exposing the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal also worked in favour of the coalition.
“It was able to project an alternative to the then-current BN government. I am not sure if PH will be able to repeat the same admirable performance but it has no choice but to start now.
“The present Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is an administration without principles and morals and it remains, at the end of the day, a shameless backdoor government,” Ramasamy noted.
He went on to point out that the MoU with PH doesn’t benefit PN and questioned if there is even any point in continuing with this agreement about political stability and transformation.
“There is neither political stability nor transformation present, and the MoU remains an albatross around the neck of PH – the longer it hangs, the more problems are going to emerge.
“Therefore, PH must call off this MoU which serves no purpose other than give credibility to the PN Government,” he concluded. – Nov 23, 2021
