COMMENT | Political influence is not built merely by projecting a new vision or rejecting compromise.

Parti Keadilan Nasional did not become one of Malaysia’s mainstream political parties because it possessed the most sophisticated reform manifesto.

It became influential because it built a broad social coalition that united the urban middle class, wage earners, social moderates, minorities, civil society activists, and voters searching for an alternative model of governance.

As an agency of change, one also needs to be innovative and courageous. When Keadilan was formed, it went against conventional norms of traditional political practice.

Its leadership embraced PAS and DAP as partners when they were perceived as two polar extremes. The majority of Malays saw DAP as chauvinistic, and non-Malays thought PAS was fundamentalist. The coalition of such diversity broke outdated taboos.

The real challenge facing Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), therefore, is not whether it can criticise PKR more effectively, but whether it can...