LETTER | Should BN accept PBM?

LETTER | Since Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin left Bersatu to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and become its president-designate, the self-claimed multiracial party has been applying to join Malaysia’s oldest political coalition, BN.

The decision on their bid should have been out yesterday but BN’s supreme council has decided to delay it for some more “thorough” discussions.

Many have been speculating that Zuraida (above, right) and Senior Minister of the Economic Cluster Azmin Ali will eventually leave Bersatu one day, as their values are not aligned with the rightist party.

Joining Bersatu was just a temporary stop for them amid the Sheraton Move and the fall of Pakatan Harapan.

Zuraida has proven these speculations right, with Azmin, who is also the international trade and industry minister, still not showing any clear signs of hopping.

Therefore, it is interesting to note the influence that PBM would have on the non-Malay/non-Muslim community, as we can safely assume it will possess the same lens and ideologies as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) led by Anwar Ibrahim.

However, to survive in Malaysian politics, one must join or align with a coalition. Only with that, one could have enough resources to push forward campaigns and agendas to secure a higher winning rate.

Also, joining a coalition could gather all parties with similar values together, to reduce competition during elections.

Self-claiming as multiracial, PBM is not exactly the best component party that BN would opt for. As we all know, BN forms its structure based on racial nationalism by adopting the “one party cares for one race” model.

This is why we see Umno, MCA, and MIC working together for more than six decades despite their different racial appeals.

Hence, BN doesn’t need a party which gives equal attention to all races in Malaysia. To be franker, BN wouldn’t want a party that could possibly tarnish its racial image that has been bringing them victory for 60 years.

This brings us to the next question, how influential is PBM actually?

The only track record we can see from them is their participation in the Johor state election, in which they lost terribly in the four seats they contested.

That may also be the reason why they want to join BN, as a coalition partner is needed and BN seems to be the only choice for them, given their bad relationship with Harapan and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

PBM is still a young party and its influence can only be built over time, certainly not now.

It won’t bring much change to the existing structure in BN, and most likely in the 15th general election (GE15), PBM won’t get that many seats to contest as they may hold BN’s flag but possess a non-nationalist approach.

The actual impact of BN accepting PBM still remains to be seen, but judging from the present, it would only have little to no impact on Malaysian politics, particularly in GE15 which could be called at any time.

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