If the outcome of the recently concluded state elections are an indicator to the Opposition’s popularity among the masses, or what remains of it, it is surely showed that they have a colossal task ahead in endearing themselves to voters again. 

Obviously, the Opposition leadership is suffering from trust deficit amongst the people!  

With “light weight” parties like the MCA and MIC making in-roads in the recently concluded state elections, it is obvious that the Opposition must re-evaluate its strategies to win back voters’ support, which they lost in a short period of time. 

It appears that the Opposition seemed to have gone asunder following the Sheraton Move betrayal which ousted them from Putrajaya prematurely.  

While Pakatan Harapan parties; PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Negara project themselves as an alternative to Barisan Nasional (BN), it looks like the coalition need support from other like-minded parties to deny the ruling coalition a win in the next general election.  

However, it is unfortunate that our Opposition parties lack cohesiveness and diverse in their political leanings, which has become a stumbling block in achieving the “big tent” collaboration to take on status quo.  

Unless all like-minded political parties can set aside their differences and challenge BN, we may well get prepared for the return of the nefarious UMNO! 

As it is, Parti Warisan Sabah has indicated that it may go on its own. Even within the PKR leadership, there are voices that say the party would be doomed if it decides to stand alone.  

And I would be inclined to conclude that same would be true for DAP and Amanah. 

To complicate the already fragile Opposition, we have in the fray, non-partisan groups who have declared their intention of contesting in the next general election as an alternative for the voters.  

Though the ideals of an alternative political force are commendable, the reality remains that our political eco-system is infested with the toxic race-centric jostling for political dominance as opposed to a people-oriented system of governance.  

Remember our past struggles  

With that sort of reality in hand, we need to ponder on the options available to our Opposition.  

As a point of reference, we need to reflect on the” Reformasi” movement that was sustained by our youth in the past.  

Equally relevant is for us not to forget the mass movement by HINDRAF and Bersih that, collectively, aided in bringing in new political culture to Malaysia.  

Sadly, the Opposition seems to have neglected engagement with civil society movements and, importantly, young voters.  

The Opposition leadership has, apparently, embraced political elitism given their 22 months in power. Political elitism aside, the fact remains is that for a holistic transformation of the prevailing socio-economic inequalities, the Opposition must reach out to the ordinary man on the street to reclaim the latter’s confidence.  

Without the luxury of time, the Opposition leadership has a monumental task ahead of them.  

K Veeriah is a veteran unionist and contributor to FocusM.