SHAH ALAM – Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), the newly taken-over political platform linked to Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, is expected to create greater competition for Pakatan Harapan (PH) rather than Perikatan Nasional (PN) ahead of the 16th General Election (GE16).
Bachok Member of Parliament (MP) Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman said the party is expected to compete directly for the same pool of voters traditionally associated with PH, particularly in mixed constituencies, urban areas and west coast seats.
He said PN’s main challenge would instead revolve around competing through ideas and policy offerings to attract young voters and fence-sitters.
“However, the credibility of the ‘formula king’ has somewhat affected Rafizi’s reputation.
“The emergence of this new party has the potential to enliven the democratic space, particularly through policy criticism as well as exposing issues and weaknesses within the government, including political attacks against the ruling elite.
“However, the bigger question is the position of this party after the election and who Bersama will align itself with,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The comments followed Rafizi and Nik Nazmi's announcement of their exit from Parti Keadilan Rakyat during a political event in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
Both former ministers also confirmed they would vacate their parliamentary seats in Pandan and Setiawangsa respectively, with the move taking effect today.
Rafizi said the letters to vacate the seats would be submitted to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul today, before formal notification of their resignation from PKR is sent to the party’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh on Tuesday.
During the same event, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi confirmed they had taken over Bersama, a relatively small political party registered on Dec 2, 2016, in Penang, by founder Tan Gin Theam.
Syahir said the post-GE15 political landscape has shown that it is now extremely difficult for any single political party to form a government independently, whether at the federal or state level.
“Although it is still too early, this is among the key considerations for voters heading into GE16. Is it worthwhile to give a vote to this new party?
“This ‘kamikaze’ move was certainly driven by both short-term and long-term considerations while taking into account current political realities and sentiments,” he said.
He nevertheless congratulated both leaders for taking what he described as a bold step in Malaysian politics.