KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat will have to convince the private sector, including businessmen, that they will be treated fairly if the opposition coalition wanted to take over Putrajaya, a veteran journalist said.

Datuk A Kadir Jasin, former group editor of the New Straits Times, said that should Pakatan win, businessmen will rally around the new administration for “safety and survival”.

“The businessmen, including those who gain massively from the Umno-BN (Barisan Nasional) government, will shift their loyalty if they are fairly treated,” he wrote in a blog posting yesterday.

“[They] may even be willing to make concessions and renegotiate contracts they obtained from the former Barisan Nasional government.”

Kadir claimed that this should not be a problem for Pakatan as many tycoons and “big-time businessmen” have begun “befriending” the oppositon pact and developing their relationship with them since the 2008 general election (GE).

“But if Pakatan chooses to be vengeful, it risks angering the Malays and losing their support. And this cannot be good as the Malays form the majority and they control the key elements of the government,” he warned.

Kadir also said that BN was left with one remaining weapon to keep the Malays by its side — fear factor.

“The bumiputeras, in particular the pro-BN Malays, fear that they would lose their rights and privileges and the minority Chinese would dominate the government in addition to the economy that they already control.

“Fear of the Chinese was one of the key reasons why the Malays returned to Umno’s fold, giving it a bigger victory during last year’s GE,” he said.

Citing as examples opposition-led states like Selangor and Penang, Kadir cautioned that BN will find itself in deep trouble if PR managed to convince the Malays that it would be fair to them.

“The situation in the Pakatan-ruled Selangor and Penang is a fair indicator. Was there a Malay revolt in these states since the Pakatan gained power in 2008?” he asked.

“Except for the BN-linked Malay business community, the rest of the Malays appear to have accepted Pakatan. In Penang, where the DAP leads, the remaining holdouts are not Malays but Indian Muslims. The Indian Muslims, he said, are affected by the state government’s policies and programmes, hence their vocal criticism.

He also hit out at the BN assembly representatives in Pakatan-ruled states, saying they run the risk of being seen as weak and ineffective because of their lacklustre efforts in confronting Pakatan in the state assemblies. “If Pakatan could convince the Malays that it would be fair to them, respect their rights and privileges and promise a better deal for them in the economy, it would almost certainly get to keep Selangor and Penang, and may even win other states and ultimately the country,” he reiterated.

“Pacifying and allaying the fears of Malays are a must because they are the majority and they control the key elements of the government — the civil service, the police and the military. No government can change these overnight.”

He added that Pakatan stood a very good chance at wrestling Putrajaya from the BN-led administration because of these factors unless BN goes through a credible transformation and Umno regains the trust of the Malays.

However, Kadir also noted that despite its good chances and the fact that it won the popular vote in the last GE, Pakatan’s biggest stumbling block is the infighting among its “ideologically incompatible members”.

“The recent Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) crisis exposed the vulnerability of Pakatan to inter- and intra-party squabbles. PAS lost Kedah in the last GE due largely to factional rivalries,” he said.

The nine-month MB saga had threatened to break up the loosely-held Pakatan coalition after PAS continued to back former MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who refused to step down from his position despite being ordered to do so by his party, PKR.

Throughout the crisis, DAP stood by PKR’s decision to replace Abdul Khalid with Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and was attacked by several PAS leaders over its role in the issue. The crisis was finally resolved when PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali was sworn in as MB on Sept 23.

However, PAS’ infighting continued, although it is believed that the conflict is abating after several factions from within the party convened for a retreat recently in Kuala Selangor and decided that PAS would remain in Pakatan.— The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 21, 2014.