LETTER | One of the important elements of a workable coalition and good governance is the ability to comprehend past history and processes and do away with processes or practices that are inimical to the functioning of a government and the nation's wellbeing.

Towards such an idealism, it is vital to assess the underlying ideology, cultural attitudes and practices of given parties of the past to ensure that it is feasible to work together in the future.

There are times pragmatic reasons could be the source of working together, but it would not last when the core ideology is threatened. This is true in regards to the ethno-religious political parties in Malaysia.

For example, while PAS was pragmatic in joining the Barisan Alternative and Pakatan Rakyat, over the years, its main grievances were that DAP always stood against PAS Islamic state goals.

Pakatan Rakyat ultimately broke up due to incompatible goals between DAP and PAS. The cooperation in terms of winning elections was a pragmatic one but failed in terms of governance in the states under Pakatan Rakyat. Ideological realities took over from pragmatism and common goals.

One could say that Pakatan Harapan broke up because Bersatu, the smallest Malay party in the coalition that intended to be a greater champion of Malays than Umno, lost by-elections that it stood due to the consistent onslaught by Umno and PAS that Harapan is under the control of DAP.

While there are various reasons for the fall of Harapan, the contentious issue of race and religion was a master political strategy used by Umno and PAS since it has the inherent ideological and emotional pull of swaying the Malay masses against Pakatan Harapan.

The latest moves by Anwar Ibrahim in negotiating with Umno for possible cooperation shows that the opposition leader has not learned from the failure of earlier coalitions such as Pakatan Rakyat and Harapan.

In the context of corruption cases involving some prominent Umno leaders, what possible reformation that Anwar could seek from Umno?

The usual argument by some PKR diehards is that Anwar could have been prime minister by ditching the DAP and joining Perikatan Nasional (PN) if he was really desperate.

The question is PKR trying to say that DAP has to go along with the whims and fancies of Anwar and his supporters even if the means towards the end is unethical and desperate?

Why single out DAP? Is PKR saying that DAP should be grateful to Anwar because even though DAP is perceived as a racist party, he is still with them?

In fact, the contention that Anwar could have been prime minister if he had joined PN is the greatest lie since Umno, PAS and Azmin Ali's breakaway group was dead set against Anwar becoming prime minister. Anwar was not even invited to the so-called Malay dignity congress that was held during Harapan's rule.

Whatever coalition that is sought out, can PKR guarantee that Umno would not play with the race and religious card when its demands are not met?

Therefore, it is vital that Anwar come to his senses that his overriding goal of becoming prime minister could ultimately put Harapan under the spell of kleptocrats who are trying to escape from their crimes.

It's time to learn from history and processes of why the coalition called Pakatan Rakyat and Harapan failed and come up with a distinctive socialist alternative that is beyond race and religion that Umno brings to the table.

There is a difference between building a coalition to win elections and governing cohesively in the long term.

While other countries have worked well in building coalitions of ideologically disparate parties for the common good, Malaysia's race and religion-based political parties are trapped in the ideological leanings that have brought them success.

Even though there has been cooperation between DAP and Umno at the state level, there is a difference when governing at the federal level that requires major compromises.

Unless Anwar and Harapan as a whole realise the flaws in their coalition-building exercises, another failure is on the horizon.

RONALD BENJAMIN is secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.