MP SPEAKS The roundtable last Tuesday (Sept 22) was an initiative by the opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to explore the process to unite various political forces and social actors toward a solution to our national crisis.

The meeting was a preliminary step toward an all-inclusive united opposition front as envisaged by Anwar Ibrahim. His statement on Sept 21 urged that all political parties put aside differences in order to find common ground.

At the press conference after the meeting, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah as the initiator and convener of the roundtable discussion has reiterated that the process of inclusion will continue, the pact will go beyond the three political parties at the meeting. In other words, no political forces aspiring for democratic change would be or should be left out of the process.

The participants invited in this first meeting was purely the prerogative of the opposition leader. Although Parti Sosialis Malaysia or PSM (as well as several other parties and NGOs) was not called at this stage, it does not mean that they are excluded. The process is at the very early steps and more follow-up discussions will be facilitated until we achieve our final goal of uniting all parties with common objective.

It is unfortunate that certain inaccurate perception of PSM political ideology came out from the roundtable. PSM has been a loyal ally of Pakatan Rakyat, their dedication to the struggle has earned high respect among political activists and the downtrodden society. As a friend, I would like to express my regret over the negative portrayal of PSM. It is understandable that PSM leaders felt hurt by the statements.

Coalition building has been a long delicate ongoing process. Being part of the PKR leadership, I accept some responsibility for the shortcomings of this process. I sincerely apologise to our PSM friends if they were offended. To do justice to our friends and political partner PSM, I have a duty to correct this misconception.

PSM has being our staunch ally in the Reformasi movement, and had been part of the struggle for change since Barisan Alternatif days and until Pakatan Rakyat. From the onset, it was unable to be a formal member of the coalition because the party was not registered or recognised by the Registrar of Societies (ROS). Nonetheless PSM leaders had always involved in the opposition electoral cooperation.

PSM was formally registered in August 2008 and by then its candidates Dr Michael Jayakumar and Dr Nasir Hashim had been elected under the PKR logo. Pakatan Rakyat was launched after 2008 GE, officially consisted of PKR, PAS and DAP. PSM had pledged to support Pakatan Rakyat in the federal Parliament as well as Selangor state government.

The Pakatan Rakyat leadership accepted the participation of PSM in the coalition via PKR since its legislators were elected under our banner.

Committed to the Common Policy Framework

Despite not admitted to the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council, PSM leaders have consistently supported the consensus decision-making process and committed to the Common Policy Framework. Throughout the years of our cooperation, PSM had never deviated from the Pakatan Rakyat collective stand on all major issues.

Further, PKR won’t not have endorsed PSM and allowed its candidates to contest on our symbol if the party contravened a key article of the federal constitution.

I hope friends and foes should stop the speculation that PSM’s principles and vision are incompatible with the Constitution. One may disagree with the party’s ideology, yet we should recognize PSM has its legitimate right to be part of the system of parliament democracy.

As Dr Wan Azizah said in the PC, the rebuilding of a united opposition is still in a formative process and its composition is not finite. The coalition is opened for the inclusion of other partners. The announcement of Pakatan Harapan is only a baby step forward towards achieving a grand political alliance. There remains a lot of room for improvements and we must continue to collect feedbacks.

The opposition leader has undertaken the responsibility to facilitate more discussion with others for the purpose of forging a greater understanding and cooperation. I sincerely believe that PSM has a lot to contribute in our partnership for the struggle of reforms.

TIAN CHUA is a PKR vice-president and member of Parliament for Batu.