WHEN it comes to disunity and infighting, I suspect there are feelings of envy and injustice from Pakatan Harapan (PH) when they are looking over the political aisle at their opponents.

After all, what is more disuniting and disharmonious in politics than a governing coalition that chooses to coexist yet parties air their contempt for each other.

Furthermore, this temporary alliance has already left no room for discussion that they will be contesting against each other during the next election.

Other than that, in that governing coalition, we also have two former prime ministers of different camps openly chiding each other vindictively, while the only common belief that binds them is the apparent indecisiveness of the current prime minister.

If there is no pandemic to contemplate or a useful bogeyman like DAP, all bridges would already have been burnt and this temporary alliance would have surely run its due course.

Adding on to the fact that multi-party politics continue to flourish with the emergence of new parties.

Pound for pound, the frenemy relationship between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) in a governing coalition is a bigger concern than any friction between opposition PH parties.

When Johor’s Umno chief minister Hasni Mohammad seeks a dissolution of the state assembly without first consulting PN, this should ring alarm bells for the stability of the state administration and also the federal government.

Yet, it is the perceived discord of PH that has garnered the most attention. This in some ways defies political logic because the burden of providing stable administration should always come from the incumbent, while opposition – due to differences in ideology and interests – is more likely to stay fragmented.

Also, it is certainly not a given that BN would be able to re-establish the kind of electoral dominance it previously secured in Malacca.

Thus, if Hasni’s Johor gambit falls flat on its face and returns a similar electoral composition where no coalitions enjoy a simple majority, Hasni will have few allies with which to co-operate and PN might even negotiate with PH or other opposition parties to cobble together that simple majority.

PH’s debate about contesting under one flag or another would matter very little at that time – provided it wins enough seats to merit a place at the negotiating table in the first place.

This led us to the questions of why the disproportionate attention paid to PH’s different approaches and how is even the most minor disturbance within the coalition subject to public and media scrutiny?

For starters, the running joke lies on the fact that the decision not to use the PH logo comes from the chairman, Anwar Ibrahim.

This baffling move is akin to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook telling the public that he is using a Windows operating system for his desktop.

Be it electoral contests or competitive markets, the voters or consumers would have very little faith in the product you are trying to market if the seller does not even attempt to defend its use.

Even the most ardent of PH supporters would have serious doubt about PH’s ability to govern.

Just imagine during the heat of the campaign, how would the grassroots of DAP and Amanah explain away such unorthodox and bizarre moves to fence-sitters?

Meanwhile, voters might be more attracted to the prospect of choosing a ‘stable’ government and cast their vote to the camp that could deliver.

In this case, we are more than likely to witness another landslide victory for BN in the mantra of strong and stable government.

Coming back to PH, arguing between PKR or PH logo is not what has led PH to such bleak state today, but rather it has been a loss of political direction and woeful lack of leadership since the Sheraton Move.

Political leadership, or lack thereof, is vital in a coalition of different interests and the manner of the PH chairman’s use of logo is illustrative of the point.

Facing deregistration of Bersatu during the eve of the last election, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, acting as the first PH chairman, had decided emphatically that all four component parties of PH will be contesting under the PKR flag.

This is in no small way due to the influence, deference, and obedience that Mahathir was able to command at that time.

Anwar, judging from the decision that has been made in Johor, is not able to exert the same influence.

Mahathir could be a man of many faults, but during his premiership you would never expect to see him lead a coalition contesting under two different flags.

While the comparison between the 2018 general election and Johor snap polls might not be apple to apple, it does show how Anwar still has much to learn from his once political mentor.

There is also the little matter of reckless moves such as the “strong, formidable and convincing” majority and abstaining from voting down Muhyiddin’s first budget in 2020 without first going through PH’s leadership channels.

If these schemes had indeed delivered PH closer to government, you would suspect its internal dissent would have dampened out of political expediency, but instead these manoeuvres were instead blunders that further drained support.

Precious time, afforded to Anwar to regroup PH after the Sheraton Move, had been wasted on these damaging exercises.

To me, PKR using its own logo in Johor is a means for PKR and Anwar to completely rid himself of Mahathir’s influence in PH and re-establish dominance within the coalition.

However, it utterly fails in convincing other parties to follow suit, in contrast to Mahathir’s achievements four years ago.

Similarly, if it meant the prospect of obtaining power and installing a charismatic leader, DAP and Amanah would have no qualms about abandoning the PH logo for that of PKR.

Also, the argument that it was the grassroots that had requested it is shallow.

Since when has PKR operated in such a democratic fashion and listened to its grassroots?

What I did previously hear from PKR grassroots was the vehement objection to nominating Mahathir as leader of PH in 2018, but how did that go?

The issue of choosing which flag to contest only reveals the gravity of problem that exists within PH.

Perhaps it is how PH once took the moral high ground and once preached not to be like BN but ended up exactly the same that has disappointed people and thus merits the extra scrutiny.

It is already patently clear that PH has almost run out of ideas just to stay level with BN and PN, never mind the inclusion of Muda and Warisan.

This also perhaps could explain the differing use of logos because, as the prospect of attaining power becomes unattainable, PH is more interested in self-preservation and thus a logo of its choice to ensure political survival.

If that is the case, it is better for the PH parties to reach a peaceful break-up solution as soon as possible rather than an ugly fallout. – January 30, 2022.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.