OVER the past weekend, the rumour mill started grinding about another possible round of political defections, the latest in a string of such rumours since the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. 

Political stability was supposed to come with the emergency but all avenues of politicking appear to be in full swing, apart from actual law-making via legislative chambers. 

While it is now evident that despite having two large coalitions, neither would be able to garner a convincing enough majority to deter crossovers.

While there are within both, strong personalities, but none appears strong enough to command enough support to deliver stable loyalty. 

This political uncertainty has caused some opportunistic players to try and increase their stake in the game.  

PH and Perikatan Nasional are both riddled with internal party strife and increasing tussle for dominance for the biggest say in their respective coalitions.  

Will an election solve this? Analysts are uncertain.  

If anecdotal evidence is to be considered any indication – no.  

The past 11 by-elections saw the electorate voting with old loyalties and communal lines. 

Despite all the ruckus, the Malay votes are firmly behind Umno. Despite breaking their hegemony over Barisan Nasional and the coalition itself, PH and Bersatu have not managed to break the stranglehold Umno has over the Malays while PAS has grown reluctant to take it head-on, and PKR lacks the capability, too. 

No matter how you spin it, Malay-Muslim unity alone will not be enough to win an election. There is still a need for meaningful and significant non-Malay-Muslim participation.   

Many political alliances have been set up but, in the end, the successful ones always have both Muslim and non-Muslim dominated parties. 

Even PAS once teamed up with S46 via Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah, with PKR and DAP twice, first under Barisan Alternatif (BA), then Pakatan Rakyat (PR).  

PAS was arguably at its strongest, both in terms of seats and influence, with BA and PR. Even with Muafakat Nasional, the number of seats is roughly half of those it won under BA, and a third less than with PR.  

With PH lacking clear Malay-Muslim participation and PN lacking the opposite, and each party having only semi-formal pacts with Sabah and Sarawak coalitions, perhaps Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s idea of a grand coalition isn’t such a bad one. 

We are facing a critical juncture as a country with the pandemic still not fully under control and the economy being forced to open to mitigate its harshest effect. 

Having a cohesive “grand” coalition at this juncture negates the need for excessive politicking and stabilises both pacts. It also removes a leadership vacuum, at least for another two years. 

With a single political engine at the helm, there will be no room for extreme politics, nor a “kingmaker” scenario as we have now, with a minority and otherwise weak political entity exerting its influence on much larger parties.

In a single coalition, the proportional wishes of the people will be translated directly into political representation in the executive. 

An interim alliance also creates political centre of gravity where small and potentially disruptive groups would be drawn to it, rather than against it for publicity, as that would be counter-productive. Stability can help regain lost consumer and investor confidence at a time we stand at the precipice of further unrest and economic freefall. 

If we are lucky enough, as individual party ideologies are made clearer and policies of the various parties drawn better, a two-party system can be born out of that, in a mature and stable fashion, not unlike PAS-PH’s parting of ways in 2015 and eventual contest in 2018. 

It, of course, goes against the spirit of democracy, arguably even effectively suspending it, but we are, after all, already in a state of emergency.

If this could help us end any political uncertainty, combat the virus more effectively, perhaps this is exactly what we need, at least for the next couple of years. – March 10, 2021.

* 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.