FIVE years ago, the opposition were squabbling over seat allocations right up to the eve of the polls. 

This time, PKR, Bersatu, DAP and Amanah have sorted out the thorny issue of seat distribution way ahead of election day.

Quite an achievement for a coalition called “fractious” by political pundits and analysts. 

They said it was a major breakthrough for the four Pakatan Harapan parties to agree to the seat distribution and candidates for prime minister and deputy prime minister.

And it showed how hard and determined they were to finalise matters ahead of PH’s second convention yesterday, said senior visiting fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS) Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

“It is amazing that PH is able to reach an agreement on PM, DPM, and seat allocations because the propaganda was that they were divided. 

“Clearly, they are trying hard to prove that they are united. And today showed that they can manage the diversity within their coalition,” said Wan Saiful, who observed the PH convention in Shah Alam yesterday.

Looking ahead, the IDEAS founder said PH still faces many hurdles to navigate as it is vastly different from the ruling Barisan Nasional.

“If we look objectively, there are significant differences between BN and PH in terms of how they are governed.

“BN is run by a dominant Umno while PH is run through negotiations between equal parties. Managing the differences of course will not be easy,” said Wan Saiful. 

After several boisterous rounds of debate, Dr Mahathir Mohamad was finally endorsed as the PH candidate for prime minister while PH president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was named as the candidate for deputy prime minister.

Along with the announcement of PM and DPM, coalition secretary Saifuddin Abdullah also confirmed the parliamentary seat allocations for Peninsular Malaysia. 

Bersatu is to get 52 seats while PKR will contest 51 seats, with DAP (35) and Amanah (27).

Last week, Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research predicted a win for BN and Prime Minister Najib Razak in GE14 because of three-cornered fights caused by PAS and PH’s fractious nature.

Ilham Centre director Hisommudin Bakar said it was a credible feat by the year-old coalition. 

“The opposition coalition has never reached an agreement over seats or PM. They have successfully overcome a huge hurdle,” said Hisommudin after the convention.

But the political science analyst warned that everything would go to nought if the PH leaders cannot soothe their supporters.

“If they fail to appease their grassroot supporters, all the good work will be undone. And that will become a new challenge,” Hisommudin added.

The biggest task ahead for PH remains assuring the Malay voters, said International Islamic University lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik.

“Bersatu’s real challenge is ensuring a Malay tsunami since they are PH’s best bet for that. Not only must it win the Malay hearts, but the biggest challenge is to convince the Malays that PAS is not relevant any more in the next elections,” said the political science lecturer.

Penang Institute researcher Dr Wong Chin Huat said Dr Mahathir’s influence gave the opposition a broader outlook and a sense of discipline.

“PH is indeed a broader coalition than all the opposition coalitions in the past, which included Dr Mahathir’s enemies, but never Dr Mahathir himself,” said Wong.

“This coalition spans across a wide ideological spectrum from Bersatu to DAP, which holds vastly different positions on issues like NEP (New Economic Policy).

“This could happen because the national crisis under Najib is much larger. And this builds the basis for the negotiation of a new social contract, replacing the post-1969 order,” he said. 

Wong believes that when the dust settles, Malaysia may find better stability and healthier multi-party competition.

One of the seat negotiators, DAP’s Liew Chin Tong, said the seat allocation was historic as negotiations went on until the eve of nominations during the last elections.

“As such, there were some three-cornered fights in Kota Damansara and Semenyih,” said Liew at the convention.

The benefit of deciding early will enable candidates, the election machinery and voters know what to expect ahead of the elections, he said.

“Take 2008, for instance. Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng had agreed to the seat allocations as early as January 9 (three months before 2008 elections) and that was an important factor for winning Penang.

“The wave set off by the certainty of seats and leadership was huge. We had certainty of leadership vis a vis a weak BN leadership in Penang,” said Liew. – January 8, 2018.