YOURSAY | 'They should not just harp on issues that go over the heads of the people.'

Accept multi-cornered fight in next polls as reality, says Amanah

Chipmunk: A question for Pakatan Harapan: Is there 'harapan' (hope) in Pakatan Harapan? You saw the results in the Sarawak, Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar 'buy-elections'.

There were many factors apart from money involved that made Umno aka BN win. Being overconfident was one of Harapan's biggest mistakes, followed by individual party missions.

If Harapan continues to take things for granted, it will be a matter of time before Umno takes over the whole of Malaysia.

You have seen how they work. They believe in gutter politics and will hit below the belt if they do not find a legitimate way to win. They are shrewd and will work with the ground-level people to create chaos, disorder and confusion.

Is Harapan seeing this? With the arrest of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, this is a sure sign that Umno is preparing for GE14. Look at the similarities where PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim got jailed, just before GE13.

Sans Blinkers: Peoples' welfare and peoples' rice bowls are the main issues to the rural voters.

1MDB, Save Malaysia and corruption are important national issues, but not fully comprehensible and appreciated by the conservative rural and semi-urban population.

Harapan should not just harp on issues that go over the heads of the people. Sometimes these smack of just gaining publicity for opposition political leaders out of touch with peoples' real needs.

Sell the right products to the right people if you want you to win.

Leongan: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang once lost to Weightlifter Uncle Gan (MCA Bandar Hilir's Gan Boon Leong) in Malacca in 1982: Lim was too busy with national issues, so much so he offered no service to his voters.

Those Harapan YBs should not disappear after being elected and only come back to their voters just before the next election; they might be thrown out by his voters.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and Damansara Utama assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin, where are your service centres in PJ North?

HaveAGreatDay: Parti Amanah Negara communications director Khalid Samad, I am glad you have spoken on the risk posed by PAS as Umno's mistress so explicitly to your coalition partners and in public.

As for PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, if he still insists on working with PAS, the only logical conclusion for the voters is that this ex-Umnoputra is changing his spots.

Yes, strategies should be drawn to counter the ill-effects of multi-cornered fights - the sooner, the better.

Kuasa Rakyat: Yes, the sooner Harapan leaves out PAS and concentrate on approaching GE14 without them, the better.

Let the rakyat know and understand that PAS is now merely an extension, a division of Umno so that the people will get used to this. Then when GE14 comes, Harapan will be a force to be reckoned.

Kim Quek: It is unrealistic to expect that PAS will agree to work with Harapan while Abdul Hadi Awang is in charge.

The latter has long harboured a desire to work with Umno, and would have formed a joint government with Umno in Selangor after GE12 in 2008, if not for the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat firmly putting his foot down.

Now, without the Nik Aziz stumbling block, Hadi is hell-bent to fulfill his ambition. The hudud issue is only an excuse to break up with DAP and dismantle Pakatan Rakyat.

Looking ahead, the likely Umno-PAS strategy would be to form a clandestine pact of co-operation.

Through this plan, PAS will superficially continue to act as an opposition party with its usual anti-Umno rhetoric, while actually working to maximise electoral wins for Umno-BN through three-cornered fights in exchange for Umno’s tacit agreement for PAS rule in Kelantan and Terengganu, and possibly a joint rule for Kedah.

The coming challenge to Harapan is hence daunting. To have a fair chance of winning the next GE, it must place winning rural Malay support as top priority, for which it should adopt a twin strategy.

Propose a convincing plan that will allay in-built Malay sense of insecurity at the prospect of Umno losing the election, and at the same time vigorously enlighten them of the perils of current corruption that has escalated to a horrible level as revealed by the 1MDB/RM2.6 billion scandals.

The latter must be explained through simple graphical illustrations that will easily strike resonance among the audience.

Also crucial to the coming electoral battle, is the ability of Harapan, in particular Amanah, to convince PAS members and supporters that PAS under Hadi has already betrayed the party’s sacrosanct Islamic principles by colluding with a party that thrives on corruption and racism.

The degree of Harapan’s success in this direction may determine the ultimate winner.

Anonymous Hotplate: As long as PKR, DAP and Amanah stands separately, Umno will surely win. Leave PAS alone as PAS will be past.

The three opposition parties should stand as one party under one logo to gain the trust of the people, if they are serious about capturing Putrajaya.

Anonymous 1890491455255851: Whatever strategies, it seems quite obvious that Amanah needs to strengthen its position against an archaic thinking party that is PAS.

I see positives with DAP, Amanah and PKR if they can just work out a viable strategy to win the people's confidence and eventually, the general election. It has the urban vote.

Isana: Let Amanah be the platform for 4M (former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir and suspended Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal) to fight Umno.

PKR, and especially, DAP should stay out of it. The next GE's fight is with Umno in the rural heartland in which DAP has no traction.

Furthermore, with decades of demonisation by Umno, any party or individual that associates with DAP will be branded as a traitor or communist sympathisers.

That is why DAP must not get involve with 4M in their fight with Prime Minister Najib Razak. If not, Umno will never be broken.

Anwar tried Reformasi and led the opposition in the past two general elections, but did not succeed in defeating Umno. The only way to take Umno down is an implosion from within, and now with 4M, there is a possibility of that happening.

RR: All of you should stop talking. PKR and Amanah, go and set your bases in the kampung now and serve the folks there.

Don't go to people just before the GE.

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