IT WILL be difficult to achieve straight fights in the coming general election as there will be parties that want to be ‘kingmakers’ and put their interest above everything else, Pejuang deputy president Marzuki Yahya said.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight in an interview, Marzuki said such a plan was attempted in the last general election to pit Pakatan Harapan against Barisan Nasional but was hampered by PAS which became the third party in the fold.

“In GE14 we tried to combine all opposition parties under one pact to have one-on-one fights between PH and BN but then we saw PAS trying to be the ‘kingmaker’, which eventually broke the votes,” said Marzuki.

He said it  is increasingly difficult to achieve straight fights in GE15 as most of the parties are more concerned about the position of their leaders.

“This gives an indication of one thing, which is that the straight fight goal for GE15 is difficult. Most party leaders are more focused on becoming the prime minister.

“This however is not the main issue. The main issue is solving the people’s problems,” Marzuki said.

He said this was why Pejuang has not named its prime ministerial candidate for GE15.

“Becoming the prime minister should not be the main aim, that’s why Pejuang never nominated a prime ministerial candidate.

“The important thing is that we must fight to solve the people’s issues and for the betterment of the nation. This is our goal,” he added.

Amanah’s strategy director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malaysian Insight in a recent interview that all opposition parties must work together through an electoral understanding to ensure a one-on-one clash with Umno and BN.

He said that was the only way to defeat Umno and BN.

Amanah is one of the pioneers of the idea of the opposition’s big tent coin, an effort to defeat BN in the next general election. However not all opposition parties accepted that idea.

Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad told Utusan Malaysia in a recent interview that his party generally accepted the ‘big tent’ concept as long as it was not headed by Anwar Ibrahim or Muhyiddin Yassin. – June 4, 2022.