00:00After a month of speculation, Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad have finally unveiled
00:05their new political vehicle.
00:06But according to an opinion piece by Tajuddin Razdi, the outfit is not entirely new.
00:12The former PKR leaders have taken over Parti Persama Malaysia, a party registered back
00:17in 2016.
00:18They are now positioning it as a third force, a platform for fresh ideas, and a check and
00:23balance agent in Malaysian politics.
00:26Rafizi himself has called the move a kamikaze mission, saying winning is not necessarily
00:30the priority.
00:32For Tajuddin, that raises a troubling question.
00:35Is Persama going to war with a plan to fail?
00:39No one expects the party to cause a major upset in the coming polls, but Tajuddin says he wants
00:44to know what Persama actually intends to offer voters.
00:48Rafizi has said Persama will adopt a multi-racial, open-platform approach if it comes to power.
00:53That promise, Tajuddin says, must be tested against three difficult areas.
00:59The first is religion.
01:01How does Persama plan to address rising extremism in the country?
01:04Will it confront preachers who claim Islam is incompatible with the Malaysia envisioned
01:09by the nation's founding fathers?
01:10And will it take on religious schools or madrasahs that help perpetuate such views?
01:15The second issue is education.
01:18Tajuddin says Persama should explain its overall plan for the national education system.
01:22But beyond broad promises, there are harder questions.
01:27One is the UEC, the Unified Examination Certificate.
01:31Will Persama follow the ruling coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak and recognize it?
01:35Then comes an even bigger political minefield, UITM.
01:40Will Persama dare to propose opening university technology malware to non-Malayes?
01:45Tajuddin admits it is hard to imagine the Malay electorate accepting such an idea, but still
01:50wants to know where Rafizi and Nick Nazmi stand.
01:53The third issue is representation.
01:56What is Persama's vision for racial balance among teachers in public schools and personnel
02:00in the security forces?
02:02Tajuddin argues that without diversity in education and the security forces, Malaysia risks failing
02:07to reflect and protect its multiracial reality.
02:11For Tajuddin, these are the hard questions Persama should confront.
02:15Not just the easy blame game of attacking Anwar Ibrahim and the unity government.
02:19He says that script has already been played too often by the opposition.
02:24But Malaysians need, he argues, is courage.
02:27Persama must be bold enough to tackle extremism, education reform, and representation head-on.
02:32Which brings him back to Rafizi's kamikaze mission.
02:36It may sound noble, but Tajuddin says it risks sounding like surrender dressed up as principle.
02:42It is one thing to fight a war and lose.
02:45It is another to march into battle already planning to fail.
02:49Still, Tajuddin welcomes Persama's entry into the political fray.
02:53A new voice, even a risky one, adds color to democracy.
02:57But the real test is whether Persama can surprise Malaysians with genuine upsets or simply
03:02leave voters upset.
03:04For the full argument, retouched in Razzi's opinion piece, Rafizi's Persama must show what
03:09it brings to the table on FMP.
Comments