Some of us would say that whatever comes out of Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s mouth is specious. However, the Barisan Nasional strategist recently hit the nail on the head when, in criticising the opposition, he said politics should be about issues and not politicking.

As we all know, much of Malaysian politics is wayang, and Abdul Rahman might as well be talking about his own party. However, it cannot be denied that the opposition’s top guns have often resorted to grandstanding to remain relevant. For instance, the brouhaha over China’s investments in Malaysia and its supposed geopolitical ambitions sounds like nothing more than theatrics precisely because nothing has been proposed to counter any imagined political move from Beijing.

The primary reason for supporting an opposition force should be its ability to propose better alternatives to the government line, and in this Pakatan Harapan has sorely failed. Pakatan Rakyat could not even put together a shadow cabinet, and Pakatan Harapan seems to have been content to twiddle its thumbs while it waffles on about a tiresome and reductive cooperative relationship with PAS.

With the general election coming soon, it is time for us to insist that Pakatan stop fighting over so little and concentrate on being a true alternative to the current establishment. We want to know what makes the opposition better.

If the Pakatan parties are interested only in being in power and not in making good policies, it should be clear to us that serving the people is the least of their worries. Populism is an easy road to march upon – just ask Donald Trump – but it is policy that really matters at the end of the day.

We are not, of course, excusing the sordid mess up in Putrajaya. A government should be focused on the issues that matter to the people, not on running battles with the opposition or with civil society or with citizens in yellow or whatever colour.

It does seem like our government is a step removed from the society it governs. BN needs to refocus on policies that benefit the nation. Otherwise, a dark horse will appear one day to affect change, and not necessarily in the right ways.

Scott Ng is an FMT columnist.

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