CRITICAL JUNCTURE
The future party surveys come at a critical juncture for PKR, an cultural Malay-dominated multi-racial celebration.
While the group enjoys a key location in national politics and its leaders occupy important Cabinet positions, such as the fund and house portfolios, PKR’s perch is seen to be unsteady, mainly due to Malaysia’s seriously damaged social landscape.
The general election in November 2022 failed to produce an outright winner and Anwar assumed the premiership only after his PH coalition led by PKR formed a unity government with the Barisan Nasional pact led by the United Malays National Organisation ( UMNO ).
PKR, which has 31 elected representatives in Parliament, relies heavily on its chief ally in PH, the Democratic Action Party ( DAP ), which has 40 Members of Parliament in the 222-member lower house.
Public support for PKR is even considered by social experts to be dull.
PKR authorities claim that it has just over one million registered users, but political researchers noted that the party lacks a national footprints and struggles to get help from the land ’s politically divided Malays, who make up more than 60 per cent of the people.
Its primary supporters are generally from multi-racial industrial and semi-urban communities.
“PKR’s big problem is that it has not used its reigns as the direct person in government to build a power foundation that will make it a lasting political organisation, ” said Ibrahim Suffian of independent voting dress Merdeka Centre, adding that the upcoming celebration polls “provides for a chance to create a new leadership that can focus on making the party a serious player”.
LACKING CLEAR IDEOLOGY?
The chief weakness afflicting the party is that it is bereft of a clear ideology, apart from being against corruption, abuse of power in government and cronyism.
This is unlike other established parties such as UMNO, which champions the rights of the ethnic Malay community, and the DAP, which has long fought for equal rights for all Malaysians.
Established in 1998 as Parti Keadilan Nasional, PKR was a product of the political fallout between former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar, who at the time served as deputy premier.
Both men clashed over how to manage the country ’s economic crisis during Asia’s financial turmoil that began in the summer of 1997 and that in turn led to Anwar’s sacking from government and subsequent conviction and jailing over corruption and sexual misconduct.
Public anger over Mahathir’s treatment of his erstwhile successor, particularly Anwar’s violent beating while in custody by the then-police chief, triggered some of the country ’s worst public demonstrations and street protests. It also brought together politicians aligned to Anwar, non-governmental organisations and social activists to form PKR.
While PKR may not have the deep roots of established parties, such as UMNO and DAP, political analysts noted that there are features and traits the party could leverage to broaden its appeal with ordinary Malaysians, particularly the ethnic Malay community.
PKR leads the Malay-dominated state governments of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, two of the country ’s most powerful economic growth engines after Penang, which is led by its ally DAP.
“If PH, particularly PKR and Anwar’s administration, can deliver ( the ) goods on the economy and alleviate the cost of living, the Malays will find the party more appealing compared to its rivals, ” said Merdeka Centre’s Ibrahim, referring to UMNO and the opposition right-wing Parti Islam SeMalaysia ( PAS ), which together are in competition for the Malay ground.