The opposition should stop its “strategic ambiguity” over pertinent issues if it plans to change the government come the next election.

 

A fellow of the Penang Institute- a think tank linked to the Penang state government - Wong Chin Huat was responding to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim ( photo ) who said that the new opposition would be stronger together with the help of NGOs.

 

“Which group getting involved is not as important as to whether there can be an emerging national consensus, moving forward post-BN.

 

“The opposition needs to also address the Malay anxiety by finding a win-win solution post-National Economic Policy (NEP). Then they have a chance to talk about changing the government,” said Wong to Malaysiakini .

 

The political scientist pointed out one of the major problems with Pakatan is, that it had tried to stay strategically ambiguous for the past seven years.

 

“They think they can avoid this question by getting into power first, and then dealing with the issues. But it’s not going to work.

 

“Whether the opposition would be stronger depends on whether they can resolve these two questions,” he said.

 

He also pointed out how Pakatan had been the opposition’s third attempt to be ambiguous, the first being in the form of Gagasan Rakyat and Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) in 1990 and the second in the form of Barisan Alternatif.

 

“The opposition’s fourth attempt cannot go on with strategic ambiguity and hope that it will work,” he said.

 

Secular federation

Elaborating further on the two issues that need to be resolved by the opposition, Wong said the new opposition coalition must be very clear in that they must defend Malaysia as a secular federation.

 

“There must be at least a temporal agreement for 10 years that there will be commitment to preserve secularism.

 

“If not, then this is not going to work because the same thing will pop up sooner or later.

 

“That kind of commitment (by the opposition) needs to be clear; no more wishy-washy telling the people that they should allow them to test the waters first because the voters are already tired of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, explaining further on the Malay anxiety should there be no policies that would defend them like the NEP, Wong said it had been one of the reasons why syariah law had come to the forefront.

 

“That’s been a reason why Pakatan has been attacked all these while due to the argument that if Pakatan comes into power Malays will be weakened.

 

“The opposition must offer something attractive to the Malays. To survive, it needs to have a more concrete solution; an alternative to NEP-like remedies. "Otherwise half of the population will say why do they need to change the government,” he said.

 

Wong said the opposition should come up with a new policy which could effectively help the Malays more. "It must come out with a new policy which would help the Malays more than what the NEP did," he quipped.

 

Although the state of Pakatan, whether it still existed or otherwise remains open to interpretation, it is undeniable that the opposition needs to gather its wits and come to a united stand on various issues should it want to obtain the support of the rakyat.