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By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright October 2022
Someone over lunch asked why Zahid, Hadi and Muhyiddin do not see the obvious need for them to band the three parties together into a coalition that will not only rock the nation but become a potent force in Malaysian politics to take over the nation in coming General Election and rule the country as a unified Malay national front.
After all PAS and BERSATU are actually splinter groups of UMNO itself. They broke off mostly because of differences in party politics with each trying to garner votes from the same Malay base.
All three attempt to win over mostly the ordinary Malay voter in rural communities.
They realise that the bulk of Malays still live in rural communities and not in cities and towns.
The urban areas on Peninsular Malaysia are mostly controlled by DAP, cutting off the possibility of any Malay based party trying to make inroads into these constituencies.
But by fighting as single entities they will certainly split the Malay votes and most likely lose out to another in the race.
Or even if any one of the three Malay parties were to win it would just be by a slim majority thus dividing Malay strength even further than what it is today.
What is it then that is keeping these three parties from banding together?
My friend, a keen observer of Malaysian politics, says it is in the Malay character itself and the values held by the leadership that separate the three parties apart rather than any significant ideological differences at all. It's just ego.
However, PAS lately has been pushing hard on its party’s ‘wasatiyah’ (moderation) stand to mend fences by announcing that it would be the middleman to settle long standing disputes between UMNO and BERSATU.
The PAS president is still persistent about wanting to heal the rift among allies in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
He was quoted as saying in a statement issued amid talks about dissolution of Parliament that the bickering between UMNO and BERSATU has to stop because it would only weaken both parties and lead to failure.
In addition, Hadi pointed out that PAS and UMNO did forge Muafakat Nasional following GE14 and later the two parties agreed to include BERSATU within the grouping.
If Hadi continued his relentless pursuit and resolved the egotistical differences between the leadership then a three party coalition of "PASSATUM" may yet be a reality to rock the nation, giving the Opposition a run for their money.
Is this a real possibility or just another Malay fantasy?
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