RESET, recalibrate, reinvent and others are nice words to hear in terms of regrouping and strengthening the opposition forces.

Whether there is going to be grand coalition of parties or not is yet to be seen.

But one thing is clear, without uniting the opposition, taking Putrajaya is a pipe dream.

The backdoor Perikatan Nasional government might have been vulnerable before Budget2021 was introduced, debated and passed in the Parliament. 

The political scenario is different now.

The opposition by linking the fall of PN with the defeat of the budget made a cardinal mistake.

By not standing up to reject the budget at the policy stage, a golden opportunity was lost by PH opposition.

The big talk of defeating the budget at the committee levels was more about redeeming its image in the eyes of the public and soon fizzled out.

The opposition must be transparent as to why it lost power after taking power in May 2018, who was responsible for this debacle and whether it could reassure to the public the debacle will not be repeated.

Second is the lack of standing up against the budget and why the opposition acquiesced in not opposing the budget let alone defeating it.

The idea of grand coalition is good one, but it cannot be simply for its own sake.

Past mistakes must be frankly admitted and apologies tendered. Those responsible for the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government earlier must be held accountable.

There are no two ways about it.

PH’s wishy washy stand and those responsible for not taking a principled stand against the budget must be debated and analysed for the sake of public interest.

Forming a grand coalition is not a simple task, it not the leaders of the various opposition parties are waiting to embrace each in a new united front.

Far from it.

Irreconcilable differences between Anwar Ibrahim, on the one hand, and Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Shafie Apdal must turned around into reconcilable ones.

It might look impossible, but then how do you take on the government of Muhyiddin Yassin that took a backdoor approach to grab power.

Dislodging the PN government is not going to be that easy.

Thinking of taking power is one thing, but then how do you move towards this objective?

I suggest as a preliminary move, the opposition come together in a closed forum to debate and decide on matters of common interest.

I think whatever differences there are can be ironed out in the larger public interest.

It must be remembered that the failure to cooperate and advance the interests of Malaysians who are caught in a political entrapment of racial and religious extremism.

If the opposition does not act putting aside their differences however intractable they are, Malaysia might not be saved. – December 23, 2020.

* P. Ramasamy is Penang deputy chief minister II.

* 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.