‘Big Tent’ Approach Could Lead To Another MN, Warns Rafizi
SHAH ALAM, Jul 16 – Incoming KEADILAN deputy president Rafizi Ramli has warned that the “big-tent” approach by the opposition to win the next general election (GE15) could see Pakatan Harapan (PH) facing similar squabbles that Muafakat Nasional (MN) is experiencing now.
Speaking to reporters at the KEADILAN congress today, Rafizi said PH should not work with any party, especially with those having different ideologies for the sake of winning an election.
“I don’t believe we should accommodate any Tom, Dick and Harry just to win an election,” he said.
Rafizi said when Barisan Nasional (BN) lost in 2018, the coalition worked with PAS and Bersatu but the collaboration could not last long.
“They were talking about ‘perpaduan ummah’ when bringing PAS and Bersatu together. However, we can now see what has happened; the ties could not last long.
“I’m of the opinion that the conventional wisdom that parties should work together irrespective of how opposite their policies are just to get power is already out of tune with what the voters want.”
He said voters would prefer coherent policies above anything else and they are willing to wait for it.
“We have gone through four years cobbling together parties with different interests and contrasting personalities, but the public paid the price eventually.”
He believed that the public and voters want to focus on competence and ideas.
“Let’s focus on that, even if we have to face multi-cornered fights.”
Umno and PAS formed the MN alliance in September 2019 as an electoral understanding with the main aim of uniting the two major Malay-Muslim parties to challenge PH, which was then in power.
However, both Umno and PAS have been at odds for a year over the pact’s future due to PAS’ insistence on working with Umno splinter party Bersatu in the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
