IT has taken 20 years but PKR has finally achieved two things.

First, the party that began with street protests and a handful of activists finally achieved its aim of ending Barisan Nasional’s rule on May 9.

Second, the party that started as a result of Anwar Ibrahim’s jailing in 1998 has finally installed him as its second president.

Along with being the biggest Pakatan Harapan party in Parliament today with 50 MPs, things cannot be better for what was once known as a mosquito party with just one seat in 2004.

So, what lies ahead for PKR in the days to come?

“PKR must remain a centrist party that caters to a multiracial Malaysia and accommodative to all,” said party strategist Sim Tze Tzin. 

Only a centrist party can succeed in the Malaysian context, said Sim on the sidelines of the party’s congress in Shah Alam.

He said Umno and Barisan Nasional used to be the centre party that catered to all but it has moved to the extreme right along with PAS.

“But showing how a centrist party can benefit everyone in a still conservative Malaysia will be the challenge for PKR, moving forward,” said the second-term Bayan Baru MP.

Contrary to popular belief, Sim said, the conservatives are not just limited to Malay-Muslims.

“The Chinese can be equally conservative, going by their reaction to the government’s plans to abolish the death penalty,” said the 42-year-old.

Sim said PKR can achieve this by shaping its policies around better wealth distribution, improving fundamental freedoms, re-instilling the rule of law and ensuring justice for all.

“Justice not just in terms of the administration of law but more equitable distribution of wealth.”

Moving forward, Sim said the party has to improve the political education of its members so that it can educate others, particularly in deeply conservative states like Kelantan and Terengganu.

Sim also disputes the notion that PKR was weak on the ground.

“We have 222 divisions, across all the parliamentary seats and had at one time, a lawmaker in each state. And we can leverage on our federal government strength to extend to rural areas.”

Scrappy party elections

But can the party recover after a fractious party election that involved two of its most popular icons – long-time party No. 2 Mohamed Azmin Ali and vocal Rafizi Ramli?

“The big challenge is to brush away all the bad campaigning in the past two months and unite,” said Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shaari.

But Amirudin, who has participated in six party elections since 2001, said although it was tense, it wasn’t the worst he had seen.

“The number of re-elections and violent incidents at voting stations were reduced compared to 2010 and 2014,” he said.

The membership rolls were admittedly problematic, said Amirudin, on claims that there were phantom voters and sudden surges in members in several divisions during the party elections.

“This is something that we will need to clean up.”

Moving ahead, Amirudin said the bigger challenge was to improve the party’s image among non-members again.

“We have to improve the reputation of the party as it has to lift the next prime minister (Anwar Ibrahim). The party has to show that it is credible enough to carry the prime minister.

“As such, the first task at hand is for our own elected leaders to understand the role of the party structure and how decisions should only be made by the central leaders committee (MPP).

“Due diligence must be respected and we must have the discipline to ensure this,” said Amirudin, who replaced Azmin as the MB in June.

He said members and the public alike should not be too worried about Rafizi’s future.

“My experience in the party is that after the elections, there will still be roles for those who lost and they will be roped in as long as they are willing.”

International Islam University of Malaysia political science lecturer Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said while the party remains centrist and instils party discipline, it needs to shed its image as a party of personage.

“It is built as a party of reform and must reflect that in its actions. It should also act as the glue that binds all the component parties in Pakatan Harapan.

“But at some point, it also has to shy away from being a one-man party,” said Tunku Mohar.

Two roads diverged in the forest, one to the left and one to the right. And what better time, than to stay in the centre when PKR’s most famous son is back to the fold. – November 19, 2018.