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PETALING JAYA: Umno leaders exploring ways to form a new Perak state government have addressed the possibility of new political alliances, but political analysts say such alliances could only be temporary and not lasting.
Oh Ei Sun of Singapore’s Institute of International Affairs said the chances of a coalition between Umno and Pakatan Harapan’s component parties appear to be more and more likely, as neither party has a majority in the state assembly.
He said that a combination of Umno-PH “would certainly be stronger for the moment than the recently overthrown Perak government as it has more seats.” However, such a coalition would be only temporary, due to the significant difference in ideology between the parties.
Umno, with 25 seats, is the largest party in the 59-member Perak assembly. Pakatan Harapan has 24 seats, through the DAP (16), Amanah (5) and PKR (3).
However, retired professor Azmi Hassan said that cooperation between Umno and DAP was unlikely to materialize, even if it was only limited to Perak.
“If it happens, it will certainly be a stable state government by virtue of having a formidable majority. But I think it will be uncomfortable and not sustainable, “he said.
Azmi said that Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s speculative comments about working with the opposition probably referred to PKR and Amanah.
“DAP is a taboo for the Umno grassroots,” he said, and Umno (which is part of Perikatan Nasional) would also want to make sure that DAP did not become part of the federal government.
However, Oh said, “Any kind of political permutation and combination is possible today, as long as political interests are aligned and satisfactorily distributed by the time a coalition government is formed.
Another analyst, Syed Arabi Idid of the International Islamic University of Malaysia, said that although Umno must form a coalition with the support of the majority, the DAP cannot be part of the equation.
On the other hand, if PKR and Amanah decided to work together with Umno, ties in the PH coalition would be strained. On the contrary, MCA, a partner of BN de Umno, “would feel betrayed” if DAP were part of the new government.
James Chin, from the Asia Institute of the University of Tasmania, said that a DAP-Umno alliance was very impossible because the Chinese community would not accept it. Chin said Zahid could not speak for Umno, despite being president, as he did not have full control over all factions of the party.
