An academic has advised Pakatan Harapan and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders to zip their lips and voice their suggestions during internal meetings to avoid a negative perception.

According to Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, the main focus should be on forming a joint technical committee apart from holding discussions on policies so that the leaders are seen as being on the same page on all issues.

“Situations such as Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad describing BR1M as corruption while PKR president Dr Wan Azizah claiming otherwise would not happen if Harapan and Bersatu leaders had prepared their common policies beforehand.

“If debates and arguments continue to take place in the open among the leaders and if the internal mechanism does not work as planned, then I am pessimistic about the future of Harapan and Bersatu,” added the director of Universiti Utara Malaysia's Political Research Institute (Mapan).

Kamarul said PKR, DAP, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and Bersatu leaders should respect the contents of their electoral pact inked on Dec 13 and utilise internal channels on matters pertaining to the relationship between these parties.

He said when the leaders choose to voice their opinions in the media, it complicates matters and renders their agreement meaningless.

“Protracted disputes between Harapan and Bersatu leaders on issues such as who is their prime minister candidate, seat allocations and policies such as BRIM would erode people's faith in them,” he added.

Among others, the academic cited the proposal by PKR Youth deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin for Amanah to merge with PKR.

He said such a proposal should not have been made following the inking of the agreement, or it should have been raised during a joint meeting.

Apart from this, Kamarul noted the statement by PKR deputy president Azmin Ali on his party's preparedness to allocate a portion of its seats to Bersatu in the next general election.

He said this matter should not have been raised if the signatories respected their electoral pact.

Joint technical committee

Another issue which should not have been mentioned, according to him, is Amanah communications director Khalid Samad stating that the fledgling party is contemplating on contesting 40 parliament seats, including those contested by PKR and PAS in the previous general election.

Kamarul said the electoral pact clearly stated that Harapan and Bersatu would field sole candidates following the conclusion of seat allocations based on the principle of winnability.

He added that the mechanism to discuss seat allocations was also spelled out in the agreement, which is to be done through the formation of a joint technical committee.

Therefore, he pointed out, the issue of one party surrendering its seats to another does not arise at all.

Kamarul said Harapan and Bersatu leaders should instead ensure that the joint technical committee is established as soon as possible and conduct studies to determine the prospects of each party in relation to the seats.

He added that if this is done in an objective, systematic and scientific manner involving all seats at the parliament and state levels, the issues at present would be automatically resolved.

On the same note, the academic said the prime minister candidate should not be an issue as well because this cannot be discussed when the objective of creating an opposition alliance to form a government after the election has not been achieved.

“The situation would be much easier if party leaders in Harapan and Bersatu adhere to the contents of the agreement they signed. But when they want to display heroics and talk as they please to the media, confusion reigns,” he added.