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KOTA KINABALU: New political alliances could be in sight with the dispute between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Warisan in the federal opposition.
The vice-dean of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Arnold Puyok, pointed out that now things are difficult in the opposition after the recent call by Warisan president, Shafie Apdal, for a change of leadership in all areas of the bloc.
“For now, the opposition parties are in disarray,” he told the FMT.
While he doesn’t see this as the end of the PH-Warisan alliance for now, Puyok nonetheless believes that the Sabah-based party could be looking for other partners at the federal level and is keeping his options open.
“This is a period when opportunities abound in terms of finding new political partners and forming new coalitions.”
However, he agreed that if the opposition fails to resolve the current situation, Perikatan Nasional (PN) may receive a boost before the next general elections (GE15).
New political coalitions would result in a crowded field and this would lead to divided votes for the opposition, improving the incumbent government’s chances of winning, he added.
Shafie had claimed last week that the opposition would fail at GE15 if the same old leadership remained in command of the opposition, adding that the current generation of leaders was disunited and without direction.
Sabah PKR leaders did not take the former prime minister’s comments very kindly, perceiving that the comments were directed at the opposition leader and his president Anwar Ibrahim.
The state’s youth chief, Raymond Ahuar, and the state’s chief of information, Razeef Rakimin, were among those who retaliated with scathing remarks against Warisan.
However, Sabah UiTM Senior Lecturer Tony Paridi Bagang does not believe that this spells the end of the PH-Warisan alliance because PH could not afford to break their pact with Warisan now.
“It will be really difficult for the opposition to win (in the polls) if they separate now.
“If the opposition cannot unite and ends up having its own factions, this could be a push factor for PN Plus to win big,” he told FMT.
He added that PH should be open to criticism or suggestions.
“PH should not take this lightly, as it is a clear indication that the current leadership is not strong at all.”
In truth, even before Shafie’s comments, PKR and Warisan were already on a collision course after a pair of PKR leaders on the peninsula questioned the absence of Warisan MPs in several budget votes previously.
Warisan Whip, the MP for Labuan Rozman Isli, had acknowledged that the absence of his MPs was a deliberate move to show the party’s discontent with Anwar.
This led Razeef to reprimand Rozman for what he described as a childish excuse, while former Johor DAP director Dr. Boo Cheng Hau joined the criticism, saying that Warisan deputies had defrauded taxpayers.
Warisan General Treasurer Terrence Siambun responded to Boo, saying there was no point in further debating the 27 supply bills at the committee stage when PH leaders themselves had already agreed to allow the entire budget to pass sooner. .
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil also told Warisan to be ready with an explanation if the public asked if he was helping PN stay in power.
But this was met with a denial by Warisan vice president Darell Leiking.
