MP SPEAKS | When the dust settles after the next general election, especially if a Pakatan Harapan government were to be installed, history is likely to mark July 14, 2017 as the turning point that made the difference.

A press conference was held at 12.30am on July 14 at the PKR headquarters. Pakatan Harapan unveiled its symbol, leadership line-up and initial policy platforms.

The historical moment could be experienced in many ways.

It was the end of a four-hour long meeting; the joyous conclusion of months of agony on how to effectively consolidate Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) with the existing Harapan parties, namely PKR, DAP and Amanah; and the grand reconciliation of an acrimonious two-decade political battle between Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the forces aligned with them.

Now BN can be defeated

Regardless, a new air prevails everywhere. There is a sudden surge of hope that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Umno and BN can now be defeated.

And visibly, the Najib government did panic. Ministers were still sticking to the old script that the DAP calls the shots in Harapan in order to put fear into Malay voters while Najib stood in front attacking Mahathir as if their roles changed – Mahathir the establishment and Najib the opposition.

What was not articulated but was nevertheless most significant was the complete collapse of Najib’s three-pronged strategy to dismantle the opposition which he had been using since the 2013 general election.

Najib lost the popular vote then and knew very clearly that, despite all the built-in advantages of incumbency, he and BN would not survive another direct head-on electoral clash with an Anwar-led coalition.

The Pakatan formula back then presented Anwar as the central protagonist with a prime ministerial aura, who could bring together all opposition forces onto a common platform. There were two ways for Najib to counter the challenge.

The democratic-and-ethical route was to reform the government and genuinely win the hearts and minds of voters. But, as the 1MDB scandal showed, he had instead no qualms about using underhanded methods and highly dubious means...