Politics, and it seems independence struggles, do indeed make for strange bedfellows. Though they may have different ideologies, they'll work together, so long as sharing the bed serves each other's mutual benefits.

Pointing this out at a forum in Kuala Lumpur last night, a Perkasa supreme council member said the "temporary" nature of the alliance between ideologically diverse members of the Pakatan Rakyat was a spitting image of the tacked-on pro-independence nationalist- communist alliance fighting the British in pre-independence Malaya.

DAP fights for a Malaysian Malaysia, PAS for an Islamic state, while PKR is cacamerba (a mixed bag) - three parties with different ideologies working together in a marriage of convenience, said the academician Ramlah Adam.

ramlah adam 150911 perkasa "What is the difference between them and Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) and the Communist Party of Malaya (working together)?" she asked at a panel discussion on 'Communist cruelty, Mat Indera and Independence' organised by the Malay rights NGO and moderated by its president Ibrahim Ali.

Ramlah ( left ) explained that like the diverse philosophies of Pakatan members, PKMM was for the creation of a Melayu Raya superstate comprising Indonesia, Malaya and other territories that were once part of the Malay empire of yore, while the CPM was in favour of Malaya as a communist republic.

Both sides, she said, "submerged their differences" in the near term for political gain and power.

What brooks for such hasty accords in the long-term, she believes, will not be that rosy a picture, as the "brethren" may turn upon one another once their short-term objectives are met.

However, Ramlah does not put much stock in the 'nationalist' label being put on PKMM and similar leftist movements.

"The leftists did have some role in the fight for independence. They were the first to use the word Merdeka," she said.

But to her, they were not nationalists, as most of them, like Ibrahim Yaacob and Ahmad Boestamam, were migrants from Indonesia who were fighting for Malaya to be included in the Melayu Raya superstate.

"They were not nationalist in my eyes, or else they would have fought for our sovereignty," she argued.

Ramlah also defended opinions that members of the civil service and police from the post-Japanese occupation period were not officers of the British Empire but members of the administrations of the sultans reconstituted in each state after the Japanese surrendered.

'The sultans were the heads of states'

"Under the 1948 Malay Federation agreement, the Malay sultans become heads of state again. The British were only advisers and their advice did not have to be followed, unlike in the Pangkor Accord."

She posited that since the Malay rulers retained power as heads of state, the British were only involved in administration, with no claim to the sovereignty of the states.

"Policemen and officers serving the states knew the British led them, but they also knew that the sultans were their rulers.

"So they didn't feel they were colonised, didn't feel they were tools of the British. They felt the British were temporary administrators until such a time when they would be granted independence."

Issues on the independence struggle and the role, if any, the communist and the leftist movements played on the road to Malayasia as a sovereign state continue to raise a ruckus in the media since PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu praised Mat Indera.

Described as a PKMM member and then as a communist, this disputed figure has been called a traitor by some and a hero by others after Mat Sabu's controversial speech, which has also made the rounds on YouTube.

Police reports have been lodged against Mat Sabu for his speech, while he himself has filed police reports against others on the same matter, claiming his words were distorted.

Nevertheless, the matter continues to churn up public interest in forums such as last night's Perkasa event, with statements from his supporters and detractors, as well as media reports.