WE often hear people asking Pakatan Harapan politicians to “stop thinking like the opposition”, usually paired with “behave like a government”.

The part on how exactly a government should behave, along with what exactly the government is doing that is “opposition”-like, is not, however, clearly defined.

A popular opinion is that a ruling party should not be seen as politicising things all the time, to take into consideration the feelings of relevant parties, like civil servants or government-linked companies, before issuing statements, or to speak on policy matters in a more subdued, level-headed tone.

But speaking boldly and bluntly on issues is the reason the government of the day won the elections in the first place.

The lament used to be that things cannot be done without power, and all that could be done from the opposition side of the bench was to make noise, now is the time for the noise to be coupled with action, given that they have both the platform to air the people’s pain points, as well as to actually do something about it.

While taking into account many opinions are a hallmark of good governance, trying to accommodate too many opinions would only stifle the strategic plans devised from the other side of the bench. This could result in the shelving of many good ideas for fear of dropping share prices or offending certain influential individuals.

As new opposition members struggle to find their footing, with many of them still suffering from a lack of public confidence, often scorned and ridiculed, even as they raise valid points, it is imperative for members of the ruling party to act as an internal check and balance, especially backbenchers who do not hold any official administrative post.

Too much manoeuvring could make one forget the purpose you started in the first place.

Some bold moves, like the axing of entire redundant departments, reversal of decades of unfair policies and cutting off large projects need to continue to be done to continually send the signal that this government means business.

It is also a crucial learning curve for the government and a critical time where pitfalls await and temptations of convenience, corruption and carelessness could easily destroy all the hard work put in to build a New Malaysia.

In some cases, these pitfalls were avoided precisely because of the internal mechanism of check and balance and the hard-to-shake-off opposition mindset. Sometimes, U-turns can be a good thing, as they show that speaking up does pay off.

Apart from check-and-balance within the framework of the government, an “opposition” mindset also helps in managing the ruling component parties.

Frugality and resourcefulness kept party events of these parties in the past, small and modest affairs, and the relative lack of largesse, mostly meant the people who joined the parties did so out of an honest belief in its struggles and the desire to dedicate part of their own time, money and effort, to realise that struggle.

The leaner the party, the cleaner the party. PH should resist the culture of leeching off politics, the kind of habit that could be brought in by defectors used to an entire livelihood made off their parties.

If the components of PH wish to maintain their success formula, they need to avoid behaving as the previous government did – with lavish events and doling out of goodies. While some of the public enjoys these, a large majority of them rejected this in the past few elections, and this strategy was largely a failure.

In many ways, PH should behave exactly the way it used to when it was in the opposition, with a few minor adjustments, perhaps with adding a good dose of diplomacy to the tone of their arguments and reducing the need to be the loudest person in the room. – January 9, 2019.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.