The new political party announced by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday should be a vehicle for more than just mere anti-Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak narrative, opines political analyst Wong Chin Huat.

“The new party must be bigger than an anti-Najib party, it can’t only be PAN (Parti Anti-Najib) because many voters won’t buy that. They won’t accept such a simple narrative,” the Penang Institute fellow said in an interview with KiniTV today.

With the new party, Mahathir should instead address the concerns of the Malays in relation to their future.

Citing the New Economic Policy (NEP), Wong said the Malays no longer benefit like how they used to in the 1970s and 1980s.

“The prospect of Malays when it comes to social upwards mobility is lower, even though they get assistance from the government.

“This means that the concerns of the Malays must be answered with more thorough policies."

The opposition in this matter, Wong said, has failed to provide such clear direction.

“That’s one aspect which the new party must work at. There needs to be clear articulation on how to alleviate the Malays from poverty," he said.

Wong (photo) also said the new party cannot avoid from addressing the issue of institutional reforms, as Najib is where he is today due to a system that sides with anyone who is in power.

Mahathir, therefore, cannot blame all his problems on Najib alone and continuing to do so will not garner excitement from the people, he said.

“It won’t be enough to inspire the people to topple Umno,” Wong added.

On whether the new party would have a pull factor, like how it was the case for PKR (then referred to as Parti Keadilan Nasional) in 1999, Wong said the situations are different.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, then, was regarded as a victim and the persecution against him was sudden, leading to the anger of the Malays.

“Back then there were the so-called good guys and bad guys. There was anger. Now, the Malays are tired of politics."

Apart from the different sentiments, Malays are also uncomfortable with the existence of various parties, added Wong.

In confirming talks that a new party will be formed, Mahathir yesterday said he would be a leader in the new party, but not necessarily the president.

Mahathir also announced that a new group or coalition would be formed to further the objectives of the Save Malaysia movement.