THE political system is facing some serious issues, calling for soul searching.
During the two years Pakatan Harapan was in power, it failed to show the political will and capacity to pursue the policies it promised the rakyat.
The power grab that followed the coalition’s led to two changes of prime ministers in as many years.
As a result, the country’s economy is now stagnant and hardships are mounting.
Public resentment is growing and the people’s confidence in the political system is being eroded by the day.
The opposition generally banks on public discontent over declining standards of living to call for institutional reforms.
Any reform will create new winners and losers among the political elites.
New coalitions will possibly be created.
This is the situation the country is in.
PH is a consensus coalition with diverse interests that seeks for resolution rather than accentuation of differences.
The 2018 general election was an opportunity for the establishment of a more balanced government until the events of February 2020 shattered the hope.
An MOU to work with the government obliterated the vestiges of hope the people had for solutions from PH.
PH could claim that consensual politics have achieved results like the passing of the anti-party hopping bill.
This may yield dividends in the short term but in the long run, such a deal with the government could cause the coalition to be perceived as being loyalist yo the ruling party.
This poses many problems for the system.
If this continues, it will reduce PH to a marginal role in the polity.
PH needs to regain its competitiveness as well as provide a credible and reasonable alternative to the ruling coalition.
The present crisis facing the country highlights the importance of a united PH for balance in the political system.
PH must realise its strained areas and future direction, work out a programmatic and organisational strategy, evolve a political style and project a suitable image.
All this requires far-sighted and imaginative leadership.
The present leadership relies heavily on personal charisma and the populist idioms of his politics.
The present political system is split between two antagonistic political models resulting in the country’s economic policy formulation and performance being largely governed and inhibited by political expediency and consensual politics.
The major problems that the present political system faces are rising cost of living, economic stagnation and collapse of the institutional structure.
The ruling coalition possesses considerable resources to resolve these, including a large and stable electoral base built over the last 60 years.
But the cascade of issues confronting the ruling coalition, leading the political instability and widespread disenchantment, could present PH with the opportunity to convert votes into seats. – July 31, 2022.
* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.
* 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.
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