Tian Chua said finding a common ground was “a prerequisite for reform”.

He said that ultimately, nothing would happen if any reform proposed by either the unity government or Perikatan Nasional was in conflict with one another.

“Reform can only happen when there is consensus,” the former Batu MP told FMT after a lecture by economist Lim Teck Ghee at UCSI University today.

“If the (opposition) treats (the unity government’s reforms) with suspicion, there will be a negative reaction. In the end, the unity government will say, ‘Don’t do this now because the other side will undermine us’.”

However, he said the government’s main concern right now was to remain in power during a “very chaotic period”. The people were also more concerned about having a stable government than demanding for reforms.

On a separate note, Tian Chua said new leaders had a tendency of wanting to make a mark in their political career by coming up with catchy slogans such as “1Malaysia” and “Malaysia Madani” instead of expanding on the good policies that previous leaders had rolled out.

“Because of political contestation, every new prime minister tries to erase whatever that was previously done without any evaluation. If we do this, we will just continue to run around in circles,” he said.