PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) should forget about trying to wrest back the government and instead plan for the next general election and convince the voters to return their mandate, a former deputy minister said.
Echoing the call for a political “reset”, but without changing the leadership, Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said there was a need for a change in direction and focus by the PH leadership, and it should start with a consolidation of the opposition bloc.
The DAP leader outlined key areas that PH needed to look at, including integrating the 108 opposition MPs as one united front.
He said this would form the strongest opposition bench in Malaysian history. He, however, brushed off ideas of establishing a new government through a non-electoral manner, saying that would further destabilise the political landscape.
“We should let the voters decide in the next general election (GE15). Let the voters judge between the 22 months of the PH government and the governing record of the current government at the polls.
“We should spend the time from now until GE15 to consolidate the opposition and play an effective role of check and balance,” said the former deputy international trade and industry minister.
Ong said the opposition could also negotiate a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with Perikatan Nasional (PN), citing how a precedent had already been set in Perak.
He said this CSA would ensure that opposition MPs and their voters are not discriminated against through lower allocations while preventing Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin from being “blackmailed” into retaining the support of government MPs.
He also said the CSA should see opposition MPs included in certain government meetings like the Economic Action Council (EAC).
For now, he said, PH should be preparing for the upcoming Sarawak state elections and GE15.
“The preparations will not be effective if there is still uncertainty on whether or not a new government can replace the PN government through non-electoral means,” he said.