PSM struggles to battle 'towkay-backed' parties, rues deputy chief

PSM continues to struggle to stamp its mark in the Malaysian political landscape. In the last general election, its sole member of parliament Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, who held the Sungai Siput seat in Perak for two terms, was defeated. The socialist party also failed to win any state assembly seats.

"The fact is, people must realise that in a bourgeois democracy, an election is a contest between two dominant parties. Previously, between BN and Pakatan Harapan. Now, between Harapan and Perikatan Nasional," said its deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan in a statement.

"Both these parties are supported by rich towkays. These towkays are willing to foot the election expenses because if their 'horse' wins, they can continue to ride it in the direction they want.

"This is the political norm of a bourgeoise election, where an election becomes a business transaction, which promises profitable returns for the powerful," he added.

Arutchelvan (photo) pointed out that it cost at least RM50,000 to contest a parliament seat and major political parties would spend between RM300,000 and RM500,000 for each constituency.

"If PSM is to compete in all (222) Parliament seats, it would need RM11 million and this does not include the deposit of about RM3.3 million.

"So the people must realise it is impossible for PSM to contest in many seats because it cannot afford to," he added.

Furthermore, Arutchelvan said PSM's policy is not to seek funds from corporations because it does not want to conspire with capitalists.

"This is the reason why PSM can stand with the people in cases involving capitalists, to fight alongside the people against large companies unlike other political parties.

"Many mainstream parties have compromised with the capitalists and have hidden interests which need to be protected," he added.

Since PSM contests in a handful of seats during elections, Arutchelvan said, the people do not vote for its candidates because they consider it a waste to cast their ballots for a party which cannot form the federal or state government.

"This is the dilemma of the rakyat who do not wish to 'invest' in a small party which is often labelled as a troublemaker or one that splits votes," he added.

According to Arutchelvan, PSM's ideology, which differs from mainstream parties, also makes it difficult for the two major political groups to make way for the socialist party to contest in a seat.

"The capitalists prefer to switch (their support) from one pro-capitalist party to another. At the onset, the people hoped that the transition of power from BN to Harapan would bring about a change in the system. But after a year, many started labelling Harapan as BN 2.0.

"Mainstream parties refuse to give space to PSM to contest because they do not want its influence to grow. So they give excuses like people cannot accept the name 'socialist' and so forth.

"However, the main fear and concern are towards the pro-rakyat socialist ideology. PSM also lacks the capacity to buy votes like other parties.

"(Former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself labelled the group in Harapan who demanded the implementation of the (pledges) in the pro-rakyat manifesto as socialists," he added.

Despite the obstacles, Arutchelvan is confident that PSM can overcome them with the support and assistance of the people.

He appealed to the public to contribute to its cause to construct an alternative political system from the ground-up.

"The time has come for the people to reject elitist politics," he added.