COMMENT | If Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is right in saying that three captains in Pakatan Harapan (PH) are bound to cause the opposition coalition to sink, the question is: How? 

Zahid's explanation was not compelling. He said when three captains want a ship to sail in three different directions, the ship will meet its end. 

That analogy is only correct if the three captains are refusing to yield even when there is an iceberg in front. The iceberg is, of course, the increased cost of living and the massive corruption scandals which have refused to relent.

The root causes are the mismanagement of the economy through corruption, malfeasance and abuse of power, and the imposition of the six percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all transactions. 

The latter has had the effect of transferring the burden of fiscal shortage in Malaysia - almost RM42 billion a year - to the people through GST. This has led some economists to wonder how Pakatan Harapan would be able to plug the fiscal gap each year if they came to power.

Zahid has obviously not read the annual auditor-general's reports, which are self-explanatory on the serious issues of leakages and corruption. When leakages are plugged, billions can be saved, especially with the return of the seized and forfeited assets in the United States and six other jurisdictions.

Bandar Malaysia, which is worth US$30 billion, will also be re-zoned and re-developed, so that the open tender process can produce the maximum yield.

Harapan's captains

In Harapan’s current leadership structure, Anwar Ibrahim is the de facto leader of Harapan with an advisory role, as he should be given that he is the symbol of reform.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the chairperson, as he knows how to unify all parties into a common front, having once led the government to five general electoral victories with massive majorities prior to joining the opposition.

The president is, of course, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and the deputy presidents beneath will be key enablers and active participants in the system, providing key solutions and suggestions as long as no one overexerts themselves by shouting down each other.

But why should anyone be shouting down each other? Amanah is a progressive splinter of PAS. DAP has not had any splits in the longest time. PKR takes orders from Anwar Ibrahim even when he is in prison.

The idea that Harapan is a ship, though invariably a leaking one, sprang from a caricature drawn by Lim Kok Wing in 1995, where Barisan Alternatif (BA) was shown to be bailing out water from a sinking "sampan".

But by 1999, the Malay Gelombang (Malay Wave), driven by those who supported PAS and PKR, had raised the ship of the opposition, hitherto allowing PAS to win 27 parliamentary seats alone, effectively giving then PAS president Fadzil Noor the chance to be the leader of the opposition.

Since 2003, whenever supporters have been unhappy with either the government or the opposition, the voters cross over in a huge manner.

Former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi won big in 2003 precisely due to such waves. Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has been one of the few to argue that it was under the Abdullah administration that the government had engineered the "people's wave".

Well, truth be told, no one controls the people if the people are constantly saddled with news of corruption and increased costs of living.

It has been eight years since 2009. Malaysia has been saddled with problems affecting 1MDB, National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) and now corruption and malfeasance in Felda.

None of these issues is the opposition's doing. None! These are all the works of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's government.

And, Zahid believes that Harapan will sink? Three captains are better than none.

RAIS HUSSIN is a supreme council member of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM). He also heads the Policy and Strategy Bureau of PPBM.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.