AFTER months of intensive speculation, it seems the elections will not happen soon.

While the politics of the country appears “stable”, the direction is still vague.  

While postponing the federal elections is a welcome move from the perspective of Covid management and economic recovery, it is delaying the inevitable question – “Where do we go from here?” 

The mushrooming of offshoot parties from offshoot parties have added congestion to an already crowded political space, with overlapping raison d’etre and slogans. 

Take for example, Malay-Muslim rights. You have Umno, the dominant leader in this; Bersatu, which was formed to fight Umno; and PAS, the latter’s long-time rival. At one point these three agreed on a common cause, with Bersatu splitting and forming a new government dominated by these three parties, only to break up within a year, dragging the whole country into the mess.  

Furthermore, Bersatu attempted to strengthen itself by accepting crossover members of Warisan, PKR, DAP, Umno, Independents and so on, only to find itself breaking up again, with the leaders of these factions each harbouring his own political aspirations. Others, like Pejuang and Putra work within the framework of Bumiputra narrative, while some offshoot parties try to return to the middle ground. 

Parti Bangsa Malaysia, one such break-off party, has announced plans to go national, building on the base membership of former NGO members from Penggerak Komuniti, an NGO often linked with former PKR leaders Mohamed Azmin Ali and Zuraidah Kamaruddin, just a year after pledging their loyalty to Bersatu.  

This party appears to be straddling the ground between a youth platform and Tunku-style multiculturalism, but failed to take off in the Johor elections.

Similarly, MyPPP and Gerakan are attempting similar rebranding, while MIC and MCA are trying to promote moderation but are hampered by their parties’ storyboards. 

Warisan, a previously Sabah-based party, no doubt wants to take advantage of the goodwill and ground built, especially with the non-Muslim urban voters, too, tried to establish a Semenanjung base, but like PBM and Pejuang, failed to win any seat. 

Each of these parties are vying for each other’s space and jostling for a fixed number of votes, with many newcomers wanting a piece of the broken pie, while the older parties in Pakatan Harapan are now having to fend off their former friends while taking on a rejuvenated Barisan Nasional (BN). 

PH has been more than magnanimous in entertaining the idea of a big tent, recognising that defeating BN was more important than holding on to its traditional seats.

Some PH leaders, like Mohammad Sabu and newly minted DAP head Anthony Loke, recognise the need for a new, solid, coalition that can take on BN and Perikatan Nasional in the looming elections. It also needs strong leadership and narrative. 

Muda, though a young party in every sense of the word, understands this, as does PKR which quickly moved to undo the failures of its past three state elections. 

The fringe parties looking to make a name for themselves should ask themselves if they truly have something original to offer voters, or are they only throwing themselves into the fray to save their political futures, at the cost of blowing the opposition’s narrowing chances against BN.

Rehashed slogans, constant innuendos and hollow bravado do little to serve both the country and the opposition cause, if the result is democratic regression and a return to the days of a hegemonic government.  

It would perhaps be more prudent for these smaller parties to consider merging amongst themselves or with larger parties, to minimise infighting and consolidate a rather fragmented power base, or at least solidify pacts with clear directions and narratives. 

A loose coalition with many small parties needs constant upkeep in the form of largesse and supernumerary appointments, sinecure positions and other concessions. These shift power to parties with few actual numbers but hold kingmaker positions, running contrary to the basic democratic principle of majority will. 

What we need now are strong, competent parties who are able to steer Malaysia back onto a winning course, not selfish leaders looking to grab as much power as possible to the ruination of everything else. – April 6, 2022.

* 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.

* 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.