COMMENT | How strange, the last time I considered Tony Pua’s opinion, I argued his take on things was disingenuous. As I argued in that piece, you either make the argument that Perikatan Nasional was an existential threat and kick them out or attempt some sort of bipartisan partnership (distasteful it may be) instead of asking folks to “ponder” the ramifications of Pakatan Harapan’s political blunders.

Keep in mind when these opposition politicians say that they have trust issues with the current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, these are the same people who were,

1. Telling the rakyat that the Azmin Ali divisions within PKR were the “figment of the imagination of the press,

2. Making policy decisions by giving more to the “Malays” but they could not tell this to the “Chinese”,

3. Placating the ethno religious-political operatives in Harapan so as not to spook the Malays but,

4. More importantly, cracked down on internal dissent by calling Harapan political operatives who disagree with status quo policies as “community heroes” or saboteurs.

Also, keep in mind that Anwar Ibrahim has been sniffing around the "court cluster" attempting to make deals and when he attempted his counter-coup and babbled on about a “strong Malay” core - which basically means that the DAP really does not have a problem with the court cluster if Anwar manages to get a majority. So where are the trust issues when it comes to these charlatans who would no doubt throw anyone under the bus to save their skins?

Getting back to Pua’s argument which has got him into a lot of trouble. Pua’s argument that PN’s offer should be considered if Harapan - Anwar does not have the numbers for a majority - is on firmer ground. The fact that his opinion is even “controversial” should tell us something about the rabid partisanship of this country now.

First off, he qualifies his argument that if Anwar has the numbers, the current prime minister should resign which is an "end justifies the means" proposition. Why? Because if Anwar can get the klepts on board with him being prime minister, the Harapan presidential council would have no issue with this even though they have babbled on about not working with klepts.

While Pua makes a cogent argument as to the whys and hows of how this particular bipartisan partnership would play out – assuming Harapan was interested – what this marks is a slaying of a sacred cow of another kind. You see, for years, the myth that BN could not be brought down was slowly chipped away with the opposition winning certain states, destroying the two-thirds majority but more recently ejecting BN out of Putrajaya.

Another myth that needed to be destroyed is that rabid partisans could not work together in a bipartisan way for the sake of the country. Granted Muhyiddin is only doing this because he is desperate. Apparently, even some of his supporters did not know of this play.

Ever wonder why many Umno and PAS political operatives have a fear of normalising working with the DAP? They fear it because if the base sees how the DAP is working independently with Malay power structures, the effects of the brainwashing and propaganda begin to slowly erode.

It's pointless 

This is why PAS is adamant that there should be no DAP in government. There cannot even be an impression that the "Chinese DAP" would work with a failing Malay uber alles government for the welfare of all Malaysians.

The very least the opposition could have done is explore this possibility. The very least the opposition could have done is demonstrate that they were not solely in this for the vengeance politics and aligning with the court cluster but rather were open to some sort of bipartisanship at least until the next general elections.

This way they could be part of the solution to this country's problems instead of remaining without offering any alternative as solely being part of the problem. This way Harapan could distance themselves from the court cluster and demonstrate that they were willing to work with a weakened PN and attempt some sort of agenda for the rakyat instead of merely relying on aged leaders whose only agenda is removing Muhyiddin from office without a plan in place.

And yes, Muhyiddin dangling reforms which by the way would burn the Umno house down, is not some sort of open bribery. When Harapan was in power, they basically spat on the manifesto and reforms, why not attempt some sort of back door reforms when the possibility exists?

I would ask Lim Guan Eng, did Harapan when they were in power have the genuine commitment and sacrifice for reform? Remember that according to the old maverick, Guan Eng had no power but was still feared by the Malays. My takeaway was this – “The big question is if Harapan comes into power again, will it continue the tradition of castrating important portfolios if it is led by a non-Malay or will the non-Malay leading the portfolio internalise his or her servitude?”

What I find most troubling is how quickly the mandarins of Harapan rejected this offer. How ahistorical the arguments put forward by pundits and political operatives are. How in a time of a pandemic when the rakyat is suffering, Harapan chooses to reject an offer without even considering this as an option - but have no issue with Anwar scrambling to find allies amongst compromised and reform-phobic members of Umno.

Nobody is arguing that this should be a kumbaya session and Harapan should go on a bended knee to PN. This was about something more than just crude political power, where Harapan demonstrated that it could put the country above party politics instead of going in for the quick kill with no plan in place. At the very least, the next few months could have been a period where partisans attempted some sort of a compromise instead of the kind of armageddon politics it will be now that everyone has planted their flags.

It's pointless talking about this. Everybody has made their position clear and nobody wants to do the hard work of actually coming together for the rakyat instead of relying on partisan fervour and vengeance politics. All this will come back to haunt the political mainstream, mark my words.