The Malaysian Professors Council’s political, security and international affairs cluster head, Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, said the only people that stood to benefit from the public spat were Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.
“This is not the first time the Opposition parties have gone against each other publicly,” he told FMT.
“They need to resolve this. But it’s very clear that with regards to the Penang snap polls, DAP is the only one which seems to really want it.
“This will work to BN’s advantage as the public will see that Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) component parties, once again, have not entered the battlefield as one.”
The feud comes down to one simple reason, Mohamed added, that PKR saw the dangers in calling for a snap election in Penang, while DAP remained oblivious to these fears.
“PKR was right to see that there is no obvious need for a snap election there. Usually a government dissolves a state assembly, or the Parliament, if they feel the need to go back to the public and ask for the latter’s mandate.
“But even if PH retains Penang, it doesn’t do much for them as they already have the strong mandate they received in the last general election.
“PKR is perhaps also thinking that if the snap polls are called, BN would come in with full force as they can focus all their machinery on that one state.”
Political scientist Dr Faisal Hazis echoed the same sentiments, saying the public is fed up with the Opposition’s inability to resolve their differences in a mature manner.
Speaking to FMT, the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies associate professor said both PKR and DAP needed to start consulting one another when it comes to matters that affect the coalition.
“To discuss their differences openly in the media and the social media is just immature. It only shows how weak the Opposition parties are.
“The pact has a presidential council and they should use that platform to raise any dissenting voices or arguments against one another, instead of washing their dirty laundry in public.
“Ultimately, the move to call for snap polls is just not conducive for the Opposition and will only split them further.
“The snap polls haven’t even taken place yet and they are already fighting.”
He added that if the Opposition continues with its ways, the parties may see a repeat of what happened in the recent elections.
The Opposition’s embarrassing defeats in the last Sarawak state election, as well as the twin by-elections of Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar, had been attributed to the pact’s ongoing internal disputes.