KUALA LUMPUR: Uncertainty surrounding the transition of power from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is affecting the country’s political stability and must be decisively resolved, said a broad coalition of civil society groups.

Calling for a clear transition package for reforms and stability in an open letter, the groups making up the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) and Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) called on Dr Mahathir and the leadership of Pakatan Harapan (PH) to take decisive steps on the matter based on their pre-election agreement.

“The current feud in PKR, a major component party of the PH coalition, is causing much concern among both our citizens and the international community as it has the potential to break up the coalition and cast our nation into political disarray,” the groups said in the letter.

They were concerned that if political stability is not restored, the political and institutional reform agenda of the PH Government would stall, or would be reversed.

On the transition plan, the groups called on Dr Mahathir to set a date, somewhere between a year from now to latest May 9, 2021, to hand over power to Anwar.

To ensure a smooth transition, Anwar should be appointed Deputy Prime Minister six months before the set date, they said.

In addition, the groups said the electoral system should be made more inclusive to enable diverse interest groups to be represented, and to discourage squabbling over seats.

“Our current First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system coupled with our multi-ethnic society encourages a winner takes all mentality among our political parties, producing political discourses that are extreme and divisive,” the groups said.

“We urge the Government and all parties to embark on a national conversation about moving away from FPTP towards a system with Party-List Proportional Representation (List-PR) seats. This will ensure a wide representation of parties in the Parliament and eliminate their need to play up communal fear over internal division to mobilise votes,” they said.

The groups also called for the Prime Minister's term of office to be limited to two terms, and for the concentration of executive power in the premier's hands to be reduced, as promised by the PH in its manifesto.

Other manifesto promises that need to be implemented without delay are those that call for the strengthening of key public institutions like the Election Commission, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Judicial Appointments Commission, National Audit Department, Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and Attorney-General's Chambers, the letter said.