Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said the coalition needs to ensure it has good leadership in the run-up to GE15 and to resolve differences on whether Anwar Ibrahim should continue leading PH.
“Some might argue that they need him to continue, while others might argue that they need a younger generation of leaders to take the lead. So they have to take care of that.
“But I don’t think there will be a lot of problems among component parties. PKR itself has a lot of internal problems, I think you’ll find them pulling each other’s legs within PKR, not among component parties,” he told FMT.
Nonetheless, Oh spoke in support of the PH components using their respective party logos in facing GE15 as these were more well-known compared to the coalition’s official logo.
He said the PH logo was different compared to Barisan Nasional’s logo, which had been well-recognised by the general public after 60 years in power.
He also said Perikatan Nasional was smart with its logo, which was simply the words “Perikatan Nasional” emblazoned in white over a dark blue background.
Perlis PKR yesterday became the latest chapter to call for the party’s logo to be used in the next elections, citing the success PH achieved in the 2018 polls.
But the issue seems to be a bone of contention for PH’s component parties, with DAP Youth among others rejecting the proposal in June.
DAP Youth chief Howard Lee said the PH logo was more suitable as the coalition was now a registered entity, while contesting under the PKR banner would be a betrayal to supporters and PH component parties.
Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Pawi agreed with Oh that PH’s logo was not well-known by many, whereas the PKR logo helped the coalition garner a crucial victory in 2018.
He said the PKR logo was also better than DAP’s as DAP had a bad perception among Malay voters, while the Amanah banner was not known among the Chinese population.
“Aside from the issue of logos, the more important factor for PH is to increase its support by up to 15% to 25% to take over Putrajaya, ensure it can foster greater unity and that there would be no betrayals in GE15,” he told FMT.