KUCHING: The formation of the next federal government will benefit the people as it will be built on a broader consensus among Malaysians.
Political analyst Prof Dr Jayum Jawan predicted that the next general election will be an open field with no coalitions showing that they can command a clear majority.
“The political climate in Malaysia has reached a new level of playing field. The Alliance had introduced a guarded competition between major parties seeking to align them into competing political blocs.
“That arrangement was good because each bloc could project itself as representatives to all ethnic groups working together. It was a good package to sell to the electorate,” he said.
According to him, the political arrangement and line of party competition were well received.
“Under such an arrangement the Alliance won four successive general elections. Its successor, the Barisan Nasional (BN) won ten general elections that followed, until it was defeated in 2018.
“Henceforth, the scenario is open to reassessment and re-alignment. The outcome of the 2018 general elections had given no party or coalition of parties the absolute number to form the government,” he explained.
He also stated that this new experience gave political players new opportunities to adjust as they seek to construct and reconstruct partnership in efforts to win the leverage to form the government.
“There is less likely of a partnership as each political party seeks to contest and win as many seats as it could.
“This is important as the number of seats won in the 15th general elections will establish the basis and position of each party in coalition building after the general elections,” he added.
Jayum mentioned that it may not only be premature but possibly unsustainable to reach any agreement to divide parliamentary seats to contest among competing political parties.
“All parties will be aiming for seats they think they could win and this is where compromise may be difficult to arrive at.
“The best option is to celebrate democracy. Contest first and then reach out later to form a partnership to form the government.
“It is not expected that any political party or coalition of political parties will be able to win a clear majority to form the government,” he said.
He opined that forming a government after the next general elections will be a major challenge because politics in Malaysia has been orchestrated by the Alliance until 1976 and by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) or BN till 2018.
“However, the benefactors of this new scenario in government formation are the people as it means that formation of government will be based on a broader consensus,” he added.
