Muafakat’s real test comes after GE15, says academic
PETALING JAYA: A political economist says Muafakat Nasional is likely to capture most of the Malay votes in the next general election but will face “very high” expectations about the economy and employment.
Firdausi Suffian of Sabah UiTM said Umno, PAS and PPBM had come to power at the federal level on strong ethnic sentiments and their cooperation is likely to persist into the next general election (GE15).
“Right now, it is still too early to say that the three-party coalition will not be sustainable or that they cannot work together,” he told FMT.
“What is certain is that the expectations of them will be higher because they have to show that they can look after the interests of the Malays and Bumiputeras better than Pakatan Harapan.”
Working together in elections would not be a problem as the three parties’ common goal to stay in power will see them making compromises, he said.
The real challenge, he said, would be after the elections, assuming they win, as they would have to deliver during challenging economic times.
“This means they will have to forego the old style politics of rewarding leaders with government positions, particularly in government-linked companies (GLCs).
“You need the right people to drive the economy, and the GLCs will play an important role in this.”
Putting politicians in GLCs who are beholden to their parties would undermine their ability to drive the economy, he said.
The present administration has come under criticism from the opposition over political appointments to government agencies and GLCs.
Critics of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional claim this is how the government is ensuring the loyalty of their MPs and protecting their razor-thin majority in Parliament.
The government, he said, must also resolve the unemployment problem in the country, particularly among the youth.
“Muafakat Nasional can dominate politics but if they cannot deliver, then the Malay vote may go elsewhere.”
Political scientist Chandra Muzzafar says he, too, believed that Muafakat Nasional’s partners will find a way to accommodate one another to remain in power.
“They are all also opposed to DAP and link this to Malay interests, so this is a powerful binding factor, as well as their desire to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from coming to power,” he said, referring to the PKR president.
“For now they will stick together because DAP and PKR have a sizeable number of seats in Parliament. Later on, if DAP and PKR are no longer a threat, you may see differences coming to the fore.”
He said the bigger problem would be if some Malay leaders in Muafakat Nasional use the race card in pursuit of their own interests or if the leader of the day fails to curb any racial or religious rhetoric.
Chandra said he did not think expectations of the government will change in favour of ethnicity if the Malay parties dominated.
“I think overall, people will want to see fairness, a problem that will only arise if the Malays see a widening gap between rich and poor within their community or cronyism.
“That is what brought Umno down in the last general election,” Chandra said.
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