Q&A;

Malaysiakini speaks to Universiti Malaya's Prof KS Jomo, a keen political observer of the Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition, on how opposition leaders can overcome their differences over the Islamic state issue and win support for the next general elections.

Malaysiakini: What is your impression of the current Barisan Alternatif furore over the Islamic state? Is this the end of the BA?

Jomo: Although it is very difficult without fair media access, the BA should be getting its act together, seizing the initiative, and demonstrate the superiority of its alternative to the Malaysian public instead of getting embroiled in public squabbles with the tune set by others from the Barisan Nasional (BN).

I can understand why the DAP has to respond to MCA and BN propaganda, but it must be careful not to get into a tangle, albeit unintentionally, by becoming victims of their own rhetoric, setting unrealistic conditions for its BA coalition partners.

But DAP claims that it lost in the last general elections due to its alliance with PAS.

It is not clear how much the DAP really lost due to its participation in the BA in the last election as is widely assumed. The DAP got more seats in 1999 than in 1995, after it had left the Gagasan, including seats it had never ever won before, thanks to greater Malay support.

According to polling station level results analysis in Bukit Bendera, (DAP chairman) Lim Kit Siang did not lose even one per cent of the Chinese vote that the DAP obtained in 1995, but the gain in Malay votes was not enough to beat the incumbent, who had a fair reputation as a constituency parliamentarian.

(DAP deputy chairman) Karpal Singh also lost narrowly, but the decline in his share of the total vote was less than two percentage points, that is involving less than one percent of the electorate. The DAP also lost seats in the Chinese heartland around Ipoh, but these were lost in 1995 as well.

How do you see DAP's role in the BA vis-a-vis the Islamic state controversy?

The DAP is playing an important role in the BA by reminding middle-level PAS politicians, buoyed by the party's 1999 electoral gains, who may forget the responsibilities of participating in the BA coalition, the commitment to the 1999 election manifesto and its implications.

With Umno's president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad insisting that Malaysia is already an Islamic state, though this is conveniently ignored by the MCA for obvious reasons, it is obviously virtually impossible for PAS to renounce their objective of trying to establish an Islamic state, even though it is not enshrined in the party's constitution.

How committed is PAS to the BA manifesto?

It has long been clear that within the BA, only PAS wants to set up an Islamic state, but cannot do so on its own since the other BA parties do not share this objective. This was reiterated in the joint statement by the Keadilan and PRM presidents last month.

In 1999, as in 1986 as well as 1990, the PAS leadership agreed to compromise by accepting and upholding the 1999 Barisan Alternatif manifesto, as reiterated by Kelantan menteri besar and PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the party's president Fadzil Noor in their party paper Harakah some weeks ago.

Although quite debilitating, the recent episode has given the BA parties a chance to reiterate their commitment to the 1999 BA manifesto. Keadilan and PRM leaders have elaborated on this to reassure the DAP that the MCA claims are unfounded, but there is nothing much the BA leaders can do with ever greater and tighter BN control over mass media disinformation.

With so much damage already done to the coalition, what do you think BA leaders should do?

With these renewed commitments (to the election manifesto), the BA should seize the initiative and move to the mainstream and the centre, away from the political fringes PAS and the DAP have long been identified with, by persuading undecided Malaysians of the superiority of their proposed reform programme.

Of course, they should not neglect their traditional supporters, but progress will ultimately be determined by gaining and sustaining new support from the centre or mainstream. Indications are that BA leaders will rise to this challenge because if not, they are out of business and may just as well close shop.