PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli is of the opinion that it is somewhat strange to have a bumiputera-only party as part of Pakatan Harapan.

“It’s an anomaly to have a one race kind of party in the set-up of Pakatan Harapan,” Rafizi told Malaysiakini.

The Pandan lawmaker was asked to respond to whether Pakatan Harapan will work with a bumiputera-only party or otherwise.

However, the PKR vice-president confirmed that the matter has yet to be brought to the Pakatan Harapan leadership.

“It’s because we cannot put the cart before the horse. Previously, the (new) party was yet to be formed, so we could not speculate,” he added.

Nevertheless, Rafizi pointed out how Pakatan Harapan’s common policies were not written on the basis of one race only.

As such, a problem might arise if Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) were to join Pakatan Harapan officially as one of its members.

“However, I don’t think that they plan to do that. (I think) they want to have some kind of electoral pact, which we can consider,” Rafizi said.

Speaking to reporters after submitting an application to register Bersatu with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) yesterday, the party’s pro-tem president Muhyiddin Yassin said the party would be open to all Malaysians.

However, the party’s normal membership will be open to only Malays, the bumiputera, the Orang Asli as well as Sabah and Sarawak natives.

Associate members can be appointed to posts

Other races can join the party as well, but they will be relegated as associate members who cannot vote or contest for party posts. However, as associate members, they can be appointed to posts.

Meanwhile, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said Amanah had no qualms about working with the new party, regardless of the types of membership the party was offering.

“Amanah has no problems (working) with this new party because I don’t think it is seen as a racist party.

“It’s the right of any party to form the type of party they want to as long as the party does not fight for one race only,” Salahuddin said.

What was important, he said, was that the parties shared the same aims and ideals.

“It’s clear that the new party was formed because Muhyiddin and his group were sacrificed for fighting on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue.

“For me, that is enough to give a signal that the new party’s formation and the merger of other parties to form an opposition coalition is to defeat Barisan Nasional. So, it should not be a problem for us to cooperate with this new party,” Salahuddin added.

He also urged for a roundtable discussion be held as soon as possible among the parties that want to fight BN.

“There’s a need to sit down and discuss how we are going to cooperate. I think holding a roundtable discussion is a pressing matter for us,” he said.

Refining the reform agenda

Meanwhile, Rafizi said a possible cooperation with Bersatu must be based on a “binding understanding about a reform agenda”.

He noted with concern that the opposition had not held any discourse on a specific reform agenda this past year.

He said their reform agenda was too generalised, and this was why the now-dissolved Pakatan Rakyat, as well as the current opposition pact Pakatan Harapan, sometimes courted criticism.

“It is not because people doubt our commitment to reform […] but the details sometimes can be slightly tricky,” he said, citing as examples efforts to reform the Election Commission (EC) and the judiciary.

He said Pakatan Harapan could not move forward without first going into the details of the reform agenda, especially with the new party in the picture.

He said this would require compromise, and they could form a formidable opposition in the next general election if they managed to achieve this.

“Discourse must be on actual specific policies and it is not just about (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) – that everything will be solved if he is removed.

“My fear is, when you go on that path, it is as if removing Najib is reform,” he said, adding that alluding to reform is not enough.

With the existence of the new party, Rafizi said it is incumbent for Pakatan Harapan to take the lead and bring back the discourse on policies.

And that, he believes, would be an even more effective way to “defeat Najib”.

Reading out the draft of the new party’s constitution yesterday, Muhyiddin had said that the party aims to carry out a thorough reform of the country’s institutions to “create a clean and trustworthy government”, among others.