In the run up to the election, Parti Keadilan Rakyat appeared to be attracting one negative headline after another.

Its two-time candidate and former Information Chief, Ruslan Kassim, led 12 former members to join Umno, in an event graced by new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Free Anwar Movement gathering at Cherok To' Kun attracted around 10,000 a fragment of the 100,000 it hoped to gather. Keadilan, many mainstream political pundits speculated, was going the way of Semangat 46, the Umno splinter party which after two elections rejoined Umno in 1996.

This of course was in the background of a further bigger swing in Malaysian opinion, if one is to believe the mainstream and some international media.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister who sacked, disgraced and put Keadilan's icon Anwar Ibrahim into jail, had left, replaced by the more consensus-seeker Abdullah, who had painted himself as a reformist.

This image gained further credence with the arrest of Perwaja boss Eric Chia and former minister Kasitah Gadam on allegations of corruption and criminal breach of trust.

Furthermore, the negative news about Keadilan was not reported by the subservient Malaysian mainstream media alone, but also the international media, which previously had a strong pro-Anwar /Reformasi sympathy. Pak Lah seemed to be winning them over.

Big catch

However, while the BN propaganda machine was trying to put Keadilan in negative light, and the international media readily regurgitates mainstream sources almost unquestioningly, things on the ground suggest otherwise.

First of all, Keadilan, while losing a few members to Umno (most were already inactive members with the exception of Hanafiah Man), had gained a notable crossovers lately.

The biggest of them all is undoubtedly incumbent DAP MP, Goh Kheng Huat who had irked the DAP leadership for so long with his close association with Keadilan.

PPP's former secretary general, A Ayyathurai had joined Keadilan in protest over BN's treatment of the party, and PPP president M. Kayveas had expressed his understanding on the issue.

Recently Long Jidin, a long-time Orang Asli leader and Senator joined Keadilan and is the party's candidate in Pahang state seat Bandar Muadzam Shah.

Keadilan's candidates, too, are impressive. In a queer twist of events, the party's deputy president Syed Husin Ali's decision not to contest due to Kelantan MB Nik Aziz Nik Mat's unwarranted comments, has allowed corporate figure and economist Nik Mahmood Nik Hassan to become the party's candidate in Kota Bharu.

Should he go to parliament, Keadilan will benefit from his inside knowledge and experience.

Elsewhere, Sivarasa Rasiah has managed to attract considerable civil society support in his campaign in Petaling Jaya Selatan.

The joining of several big names and with many notable candidates, has illustrated Keadilan's shrewd electoral tactics. While the party's electoral machinery on the ground is still in a nurturing stage, its leaders with their diverse civil society and political backgrounds have not failed to impress by presenting credible candidates, many of them young and professional, for the March 21 polls.

Silent majority

Furthermore the Free Anwar rallies across Malaysia had galvanised its grassroots members and showed that the former deputy prime minister is still an issue.

On the ground reports suggest that the gathering at Anwar's hometown, while lacking the 100,000 it hoped for, attracted 10,000 (a conservative estimate) people.

A recent event in a Chinese temple in Ipoh, organised by Keadilan, managed to draw 2,000, mostly Chinese Malaysians.

The ceramah following the denial of Ezam Mohd Noor, Azmin Ali and Irene Fernandez to contest, organised in the very last minute saw the attendance of 2,000 people.

In fact, it is BN that should take heed. The coalition is trying to project Abdullah as new leader who is offering a promising start for some segments of Malaysian society.

The BN too tries to make its own members and other Malaysians believe that Keadilan which was born from the sacking and detention of Anwar Ibrahim, will soon meet its natural death ala Semangat 46.

The BN must realise that though the height of the reformasi turbulence of the 1998-2001 appears to have subsided, the silent majority has not been won over, contrary to what was suggested by the recent Star polls.

And then there are the 680,000 voters disqualified by the EC in 1999 many pro-reform young / new voters.

Abdullah's handling of the elections have been weak he tries to disguise this with his 'new guard' and 'religious' candidates, but the truth is the BN is wrecked by disgruntlement within Umno, PPP and many other non-peninsular component parties.

Old guard

The word is that many are less then happy with Abdullah's approach, seen to be weak and indecisive.

Furthermore, many among the old guard such as Aziz Shamsuddin, Rafidah Aziz, Nazri Aziz, Taib Mahmud and Samy Vellu are still there.

Their presence is a reminder to Abdullah that undermining Umno's corrupt side which plays an important role in securing electoral victories and provides the patronage for the party's corporate rank and file would have its consequences.

Where campaigning for the elections is concerned, irony may come into play in that the BN's overpowering propaganda effort might just lead to complacency on their part to the benefit of the opposition.

Any Keadilan performance beyond that in 1999 may be seen as a sign of failure for Abdullah who had long dismissed Keadilan as irrelevant; his personal attendance at the 'return' of 12 Keadilan 'leaders' will then be a huge liability, and open Umno to fierce infighting with Najib Abdul Razak.

Furthermore, Keadilan's sincerity and spirit of sacrifice, especially the effort of its president (Malaysia's first female party leader) Dr Wan Azizah Ismail in attempting to forge a coherent nationwide opposition should surely appeal to the silent majority which generally abhors partisan bickering.

The party withdrew in several major seats at the risk of grassroots backlash to promote opposition unity, but seems unappreciated by the stubborn DAP old guard.

Some challenges, however, still remain to be met. First is the revolving door change of guard that has plagued the party with the likes of Chandra Muzaffar, Marina Yusoff, Zainur Zakaria and several Abim leaders exiting the party; and of course, the recent incidents. However, in the future it may be less frequent

Swept up by the reformasi mood, at its height it appeared trendy and the right thing do was to join Keadilan; however the rigours of opposition politics took its tolls and many fell by the wayside.

But the hard core of the party is still intact, made up of former PRM, Umno, MIC and DAP members, along with JIM, Suaram, Abim and Dema activists, with the bulk of the membership being made up of the previously non-partisan and non-activist Malaysians .

A crucial challenge is the need to build a stronger grassroots network. Keadilan cannot deny that PAS still plays an important role at that level.

Indeed it is understandable that Keadilan's youth coupled with its ideology which is groundbreaking in Malaysia, means that this will take some time for the network to be in place.

Keadilan must strive to build its grassroots to ensure its continued existence.

The leadership must embark on a detailed study and plan before initiating moves to strengthen Keadilan at the grassroots level so it can mount a strong challenge to the BN hegemony on the ground.

Practical ties

As stated, Keadilan's still fledgling grassroots justifies its co-operation with PAS at a practical level.

Although the Islamic party is especially strong in the Malay heartland and the rural areas, its machinery is spread almost nationwide.

On a more theoretical level, Keadilan needs to continue co-operating with PAS to create a dynamic and centrist discourse on Islam.

Amidst the bickering and misunderstandings, both sides should understand that they must respect the sanctity of the coalition by not interfering in the internal affairs each other.

Where the DAP is concerned, Keadilan should not be too perturbed by that party.

While Keadilan's gestures regarding opposition unity recently were commendable, DAP seems to be at sea when it comes to the changing political reality a loss regarding the changing political reality.

If DAP decides not to compromise, then Keadilan should push forward with its own ideals. The future beckons well for Keadilan as a truly multiracial party that is representative of Malaysians in general.

DAP seems to be glued to its old glory days of the 1970s and 1980s. Yet if DAP decides to reform itself radically with new leadership, there might still be hope.

Sign of maturity

Post Sept 11, one of the downsides of being the opposition in Malaysia is the government propaganda of PAS being one of the fundamentalists and extremists groups in Southeast Asia.

The international media became less favourable towards the opposition, and this was exacerbated by Abdullah becoming Prime Minister, as mentioned earlier.

The importance of this is relatively small compared to grassroots support, however.

If Keadilan can overcome the challenges, they will soon emerge as a major political force in the country. In 1999, months after being established, Keadilan managed to grab about 12 percent of the political vote, although this translated to only five parliamentary and four state seats. We will see how Keadilan fares in 2004 election.

Keadilan's multiracial political experiment has been one of the most representative and dynamic with regards to the Malaysian society. This election, they have ventured to more mixed seats than ever before. Five years is a long time, especially in politics.

However, Keadilan has shown a sign of maturity and political longevity. Of all the parties in Malaysia, Keadilan is the only one that has dared to venture to experiment "New politics", i.e. plural and multiracial political activism. Malaysia's future depends on Keadilan.

LW LOH is a management executive based in Ipoh.