S Arutchelvan said all the parties that contested in the recent Johor state election who were not part of a coalition lost their deposits.

“Now you know why PSM loses its deposits,” he said at a forum last night.

In the recent Johor state election, a number of parties contested on their own, including PSM, Pejuang, Muda, Warisan, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra).

Arutchelvan said coalition politics has always been part of Malaysia’s history, though these days elections no longer revolved around political ideologies.

“Even before independence, we had the Putera-AMCJA, which was a left-wing coalition fighting a right-wing coalition. So, there was a clear class division.

“Then, after independence, we had the socialists fighting against the Alliance, which was still a class fight. But, today, it is not a class fight. It’s a fight between who is the lesser evil,” he said.