Speaking to FMT, Universiti Malaya Associate Prof Awang Azman Pawi said the leadership structure, with PKR and PPBM heading the line-up, demonstrated Malay dominance, with the de facto leader, chairman, president and two of the three deputy presidents posts going to Malays.
This, he said, would convince conservative Malay voters who might have feared domination by non-Malays in PH.
Critics of PH had constantly harped on the fact that DAP, being the largest opposition party in terms of parliamentary seats, would be the “real leader” of PH while the other member parties were mere “followers”.
After a meeting of its presidential council on Thursday night, PH announced that jailed PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim had been appointed as de facto leader while his former mentor-nemesis-comrade Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be chairman.
Anwar’s wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was named president. She is assisted by three deputies — Muhyiddin Yassin (PPBM president), Lim Guan Eng (DAP secretary-general) and Mohamad Sabu (Amanah president).
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and his PPBM counterpart Mukhriz Mahathir were made vice-presidents, along with DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen and Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.
Former deputy minister Saifuddin Abdullah is the chief secretary.
Awang Azman also said the leadership line-up gave a glimpse of what an opposition government might look like if PH succeeded in wresting Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th general election (GE14).
“If you look at the structure, one can assume that Anwar would become Prime Minister once he is released from jail and receives a free pardon.
“In the interim, Mahathir will hold the post with Muhyiddin as deputy prime minister.”
Anwar, 69, is serving a five-year jail term at the Sungai Buloh Prison for sodomy, and will not be able to contest in GE14 which must be held before Aug 24, 2018.
Awang Azman said the combination of Mahathir, Anwar and Muhyddin is the best possible team to lead the opposition in GE14.
According to him, the PH line-up would cause a “panic” in Umno, given that two former Umno heavyweights had now teamed up to lead the opposition.
Power posturing resolved, says Wong Chen
Meanwhile, PKR Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen said the conclusion of the line-up had resolved the power posturing of the parties in the past two months.
“What we have here is a clear endorsement of Anwar as the ultimate leader which is what the majority of Pakatan Harapan MPs have always espoused,” he said.
Wong said that having Mahathir as chairman also signalled the importance of PPBM’s role in taking the fight into Umno’s strongholds.
“We expect GE14 to be a very close fight and having Anwar and Mahathir together is very important.
“Most importantly, having both Anwar and Mahathir can help sway the Borneo parties to Pakatan Harapan in the event of a hung parliament scenario.”
Lack of youth in line-up problematic, says IDEAS
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), however, lamented the lack of youth and women in PH’s leadership structure.
“Looking at the presidential line-up, I could not help but think of that iconic line from The Who: ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss’,” said IDEAS external relations manager Azrul Mohd Khalib.
“The lack of youth and women in the line-up is problematic. The average age is 61 with the youngest being Chong Chieng Jen at a refreshing 46 years old. Wan Azizah is the only woman.”
Azrul said countries elsewhere were looking to strengthen agendas of reform by having younger people in leadership positions.
But he said the perception and message sent out by PH’s leadership was that younger leaders could not be trusted, and that the old guard – of men – wanted to remain at the forefront, and that the agenda would be the same old story, same old song.
He said this did not bode well for people looking for change and hope for reform and a new direction for the country, especially for young Malaysians, many of whom would be new voters.
“If Pakatan Harapan hopes to increase voter turnout among the younger voters and gain their support, they need new faces who can inspire, speak their language and are unafraid of change.”
PH also unveiled its chosen common logo Thursday night, which it would submit to the Registrar of Societies for registration.
Once approved, PH would be ready to go to the polls as a coalition using a common logo – the same as BN.