THERE have been various debates in the media of why the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government collapse, after the treacherous elements within it orchestrated a coup.

The reasons stated were about the ambition of an individual who was desperate to become prime minister, a violation of agreement on the transition, the lack of coordination among cabinet colleagues, lack of trust, improper communication of its success on certain reforms and the list goes on.

Putting things together and analysing deeper the root cause of the fall of the PH government is the nature of Malay-Muslim centred unprincipled elite politics that were more interested on preserving positions, wanting to hold on to critical government resources and the dominant ethno-religious Islamisation that desires a permanent foothold on Institutions.

When Bersatu, PKR, DAP and Amanah formed a coalition, its driving force was more to topple the kleptocratic government of Najib Razak than what would happen in the aftermath when the Barisan Nasional government is toppled.

Bersatu’s ideology is similar to Umno on Malay dominance, and what set them apart was the kleptocratic government of Najib.

They share a common foundational aspect of ideological coherence of Malay centred agenda. For a party like Bersatu, human rights, environment and local democracy is not in its vocabulary.

It needed help to topple Najib so it grudgingly accepted certain reforms in the PH common manifesto.

As for the PKR, its purpose was about reforms, but its overriding objective was to install Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister through the transition plan.

This is the reason that when Sosma was used against certain individuals who were accused of links with so called defunct Liberalisation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), there was no vehement protest from the PKR who have also suffered from detention from various oppressive laws. 

It felt that its position in the government of the day was far more important that the human rights of the detainees.

It was superficially supporting former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad knowing well that he has no willingness to adhere to principled reforms.

Unfortunately for Anwar, there were elements within his party that torpedoed his prime ministerial ambition.

Where does DAP stand in this situation? Its leaders especially for Lim Kit Siang, it is about the bigger picture of toppling a kleptocratic government and bringing in reforms without understanding the nature of the political parties he is in partnership with, such as Bersatu, that is centred on greed for Malay power and dominance that transcends the reforms that he is thinking about.

Besides that, DAP has failed to reach out to the conservative segments of the Malay community hoping that the job will be done by Bersatu, PKR or Amanah.

Its governing allocations to mosque or development is inadequate when what required is political communication of empathy with the Malay community on the understanding on why they hold on to concept like identity and the elements of history that has always been contentious with DAP’s rhetoric of equality.

DAP believed that merely riding on a tiger called Dr Mahathir or Anwar would be adequate in the complex nature of Malay identity politics.

As for Amanah, it was still a new party when it came to power without adequate support from the Malay-Muslim population in comparison with PAS and Umno.

Therefore for Pakatan to survive in the long run its needs to build a progressive coalition of common principles that is not much about winning an immediate election but with enduring forces of principles and integrity that care for social justice, environment, local governance and respect for the reality of ethnic identity and politics that does not transcend good governance and human rights.

It has to get rid of its own ethno centric political leaders, who has little empathy to the reality of Malay-Muslim history in this country.

It is time to move on from ethno-centric parties Bersatu and built up coalition of progressives or even with some principled grass root moderate conservatives who care for issues like the environment.

For an example in Austria, there is a new governing coalition between conservatives and the greens that showed the appreciation of different ideology among its matured and moderate leaders for the common good of its people.

Such maturity brings about peace and stability in real sense and not superficial stability that is based on ethno-religious dominance that we are witnessing currently.

For the new coalition to takes shape it requires current elite leaders such as Dr Mahathir, Anwar, Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng to step down, with new leaders at helm before the next general election. 

New leaders should be discovered from grassroots movements and local governments. – March 15, 2020.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary for Association for Community and Dialogue.

* 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.