October 31, 2009 14:36 PM

Internal Crises Ruining Cooperation Of Opposition Parties

By Noor Hayati Muda

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- The internal crises sweeping across Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and PAS in Selangor do not come as a shock for political observers, with some believing that it will ruin the unofficial cooperation forged by opposition parties.

"This is what happens when several parties unofficially join to run a state government. They cooperate with parties of different ideologies to administer the people, but at the same time have to rein in their elected representatives and leaders," political observer Assoc Prof Shaharuddin Badaruddin said.

He said the decision by Port Klang state assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah to quit PKR was proof that the party had failed to control its leaders.

"I expect more Opposition elected representatives to quit their parties out of dissastifaction," the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara lecturer told Bernama.

Shaharuddin said the problem faced by PKR and PAS was due to the tranparency policy practised by the state governments and the leaders failure to separate party ideology from government policy.

"Sometimes, a decision by the state government does not go down well with party leaders who make their stand known based on the principle of transparency. This will anger another party and lead to a new problem."

He said this was because of different party ideologies and the lack of an official channel to resolve problems.

"Unlike Barisan Nasional (BN) which has an official channel, the Opposition does not have one and this makes it difficult for them to settle inter-party problems."

The lecturer said the best solution to the problem was for the Opposition to officially form an alliance.

"They are only sleeping partners, with no common ideology and thus can't administer as one party. Although BN comprises many parties, it can administer as one party.

"This should be the way. ROS (Registrar of Societies) had said that the seven member condition is not appplicable to political parties. So what are they waiting for? Make it official and turn the country's political system into a two-party system," he said.

However, Prof Dr Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk of the Centre of Social Science Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia said it was difficult for the Opposition to formalise the alliance.

"They only joined up to win elections. There is no ideological understanding between PAS, DAP and PKR. The different in ideology between PAS and DAP is too wide to bridge."

Azeem said the three parties need more time to formalise the alliance as it had to address issues like core parties, a common ideology and that it was hanging on to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a weak leader.

"Anwar is the gum which holds the three parties together but now he has a problem and this will affect cooperation. The Opposition's failure to resolve their internal problems will paralyse cooperation between them.

"If the policies of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak are well received by the people, it is not impossible that the states ruled by the Opposition can be conquered," Azeem said.

Meanwhile, a political observer within PAS told Bernama it was impossible for the Islam-based party to set aside its objective of setting up an Islamic state.

He said the ideological difference was the main factor behind the bickering between PAS and DAP in Selangor.

"I admit it is difficult to formalise the alliance as PAS will not drop its struggle for an Islamic state while DAP will never agree to it.

"But there are some PAS leaders in Selangor who are not bothered by party struggle, all for the sake of power," he said referring to investigation by the disciplinary committee against several problematic Selangor PAS leaders.

The arguments made by political analysts raised the question whether Opposition parties can cooperate like BN or they would go separate ways.

-- BERNAMA

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