MUHYIDDIN Yassin and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition must strike an alliance with Pakatan Harapan (PH) if it hopes to capture Putrajaya at the 15th general election, analysts said.

This means they will have to forge a relationship with DAP, the party which Muhyiddin had blamed for pulling his party, Bersatu, out of the PH coalition in 2020.

Analysts warned that having Islamist party PAS as its partner will not be enough for PN to take back Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional (BN).

They said that after three huge defeats in Malacca, Sarawak and Johor elections, PN may have no other option but to work with PH.

Following the latest defeat in Johor, PH leaders had admitted opposition leaders to shore up their strength again to face the general election, adding the coalition must adopt a flexible approach, including in negotiation strategies with other opposition parties and coalitions at both state and federal levels.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said PN and PH cannot afford to ignore one another if they are serious in defeating BN in the near future.

“For me the disagreement and friction between PH and PN are issues within the leadership surrounding its members,” Hisommudin said.

“In reality they need to look at the voting patterns. PH has to realise that the Malay votes have gone to PN (as they once voted for PH in GE14) and PN has to realise that in mixed seat areas, PKR and DAP are still backed by the non-Malays.

“These two need to find common ground. They need to ensure a straight fight in the next election and have an electoral pact like what Muda had with DAP and Amanah,” said Hisommudin.

Dr Mazlan Ali from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia agreed, and said there have been several precedents where opposing parties worked together despite years of hostility.

“Muhyiddin has no other choice but to accept PH’s olive branch,” Mazlan said.

“Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim had 20 years of enmity but they let go of the past and worked together to defeat BN. Dr Mahathir had said a lot of bad things about DAP too and DAP did the same to Dr Mahathir.

“Muhyiddin or Bersatu or PN has no other choice but to accept PH as a partner. There is nothing impossible in politics. Politics is dynamic. One day is one thing the next day is another thing.

“The dispute between Bersatu and PH is nothing compared to what has happened in our political scene,” Mazlan added.  

BN claimed a supermajority in the Johor elections last week, winning 40 out of 56 state seats. PH, with only DAP and Amanah, won 11, while PKR, which used its own logo, won one.

Muhyiddin’s PN won three seats, with the former prime minister describing themselves as “underdogs”. Muda, an ally of PH, won one seat.

None of the other new parties, including Dr Mahathir’s Pejuang and PKR splinter Parti Bangsa Malaysia, won any seats. All their candidates lost their deposits.

In the 2018 general election, BN won only 19 seats in Johor and PH formed the state government for the first time.

However, since then BN has taken back Bekok, Serom, Bukit Naning, Yong Peng, Paloh, Pulai Sebatang and Pekan Nanas.

BN also reclaimed Pemanis, Tenang, Bukit Pasir, Gambir, Larkin and Bukit Permai from PN.

A PH-PN cooperation may see the return of Malaysia’s original struggle against kleptocracy.

Meanwhile, Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegu Bard, is optimistic that the two largest opposition blocs can come to terms in the future.

The former PKR strongman said if BN is allowed to win in the next GE, leaders with corruption charges may see their cases dropped.

“They need to be sincere and honest. The masses are disappointed with the current political scenario. The low voter turnout had given BN the opportunity to win, not because they are strong, but because the opposition is not solid.

“We all know that leaders with corruption charges are eager to have their cases dropped and we cannot allow these kleptocrats to return.

“This is a positive development (calls for PH and PN to cooperate). We need to go back to our original struggle, before we won in 2018, that we were fighting against corruption,” said Chegu Bard, who was PN’s campaign information coordinator in the Malacca polls.

Bersatu supreme council member Dr Muhammad Faiz Na’aman said although the matter has not been discussed by the party leadership, the issue was studied by the party’s political bureau.

In his personal capacity, Faiz said he agreed with calls for both coalitions to sit and discuss ways to defeat BN.

“This matter has not reached the leadership for discussion but I am aware that it has been discussed at the political bureau, although I have not been informed of the outcome.

“For me, I do not see why we can’t sit and discuss. There is a need for PH and PN to cooperate because they are the two largest opposition coalitions.

“From what I know, the response from the grassroots is also positive,” he added. – March 19, 2022.