James Chin of the University of Tasmania said with a dominant party, the majority of decisions would reflect their interests while the views from other parties that formed the unity coalition would be ignored.

As an example, he cited Umno, the lynchpin of Barisan Nasional.

He said Malaysia endured an “unpleasant experience” during BN’s 61 years in power. “BN was a coalition in name only,” he said. “Umno was actually running the government. They were just using BN to show they were multiracial when in fact they have never bothered about what BN (as a coalition) wanted,” he told FMT.

Chin added that a government without a dominant party would mean that views of component parties would be considered, which is important in Malaysia’s religious and multiracial complex.

He said this when commenting on Warisan president Shafie Apdal’s statement that the government should not allow any party to be dominant.

Shafie said when Umno became the dominant party in BN, the price was paid by its BN partners such as MCA, MIC and Gerakan, which were influential parties but were undermined by Umno.

The current government comprises Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional as well as the two ruling coalitions in East Malaysia, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Gabungan Parti Sarawak.

Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir said the dynamics in the unity coalition differed from those of the BN-Umno’s government.

“Different entities and components are together. So, it cannot follow that concept or the way BN handled the dynamics within their coalition,” he said.

He said that Anwar and PH needed to understand the dynamic within his unity government first and listen to the views of other parties in the alliance.

He said it should not be a case of dominance to the extent that PKR, for example, dictated terms in PH and the other PH partners just followed. “There should be some balance because it (the unity government coalition) is very fragile and sensitive.”