WITH politics in Malaysia growing increasingly complex, with various coalitions, alliances, coalitions “plus”, alliances “plus” and so on, it is difficult to keep track of who is still friends with whom, who has defected to the other side and who started another splinter party.

Two latest parties to have joined the fray, both by former Bersatu members are Pejuang, by Dr Mahathir and a yet-to-be-named youth party by Syed Saddiq Syes Abdul Rahman.

Of the two, the latter seems to be generating more buzz of promise. Pejuang undoubtedly inherited more structure, form and former supporters of Bersatu, but Syed Saddiq’s party seems to have captured the attention of several prominent government-linked company leaders and well-known names in the social movement circle.

But does Malaysia really need more political parties?

If Sabah’s ongoing election campaign is a sign of things to come at the federal level, it doesn’t look promising.

Too much politicking creates uncertainty and discord, often manufactured to win votes.

With up to 11 candidates for a state seat, this could give rise to fringe politics.

Without a clear need to appeal to the mainstream masses, nor the full accountability of being part of a coalition that aims to form a government, parties and candidates would tackle extremely local, race or religious issues relevant or appealing only to a segment of the community.

This reduces the dependence on larger parties and one rather based on supply and confidence, and wheeling and dealing in “what’s in it for me and my supporters”, narrower view of politics.

Unfortunately, if we have too much of this, we stand to lose out on the bigger picture – the inability to apply political triage, resulting in imbalanced economic development, poverty eradication, or other policies based on larger community interests.

It could end up frustrating the voters as well, for both implied and even specific promises.

A big part of Pakatan Harapan’s waning popularity in urban circles has been its inability to deliver on loftier ideals like democracy, freedom of religion, minority rights and so on.

Even specific promises by the present government, such as PAS’ promise on hudud, banning alcohol, implementing RUU 355 and so on had to be put on hold in the interest of “the bigger picture”.

This demonstrates the double-edge nature of using excessive rhetoric and firebrand political posturing as opposed to constructive and consensus-based politics.

PAS has since been forced to backtrack on both its position and hardliner stance, as would a party that approaches a multiracial coalition with a single-track position.

As power shifts away from coalition-based parties, however, this may not be the case for long.

Parties desperate enough have shown they are willing to concede long-held ideology with the view of either “gaining power to do some good” or going with the “lesser evil”.

In Europe and other mature democracies, supply and confidence arrangements are more common, given the political lines that are mostly drawn on ideology, social values and local sentiment.

In Malaysia, however, race and religion are more sensitive and potentially explosive considerations.

Perhaps what needs more than political division, would be a social movement.

As Bersih and Reformasi demonstrated, social movements, though also often political in nature, cut across ideologies and focus on issues.

If applied correctly, a social movement could be the grounding force we need to stabilise an otherwise increasingly volatile political equation.

Values like conservatism and piety, as often espoused by Isma, is already one such movement, as is social freedom fought by MAJU, or even youth empowerment by Syed Saddiq’s previously conceived youth platform, that since evolved into a party. Or movements for things like sports or technology.

It has the potential to draw people who are otherwise weary of politics but want to contribute and help the country grow.

These movements have the flexibility to coalesce and come to semi-formal understanding to help form a clearer political narrative and to both define and hold accountable politicians who would seek their endorsement, support or even funding.

This could take the form of something as gentle as advice to harsher sanctions like calls for boycott.

Apart from keeping parties more grounded, it could help provide some clarity to what looks now to be muddy waters. – September 16, 2020.

* 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.