The first problem was the nature of the parties that formed PH. The four parties in PH were very different ideologically. The main uniting factor was not philosophy but pragmatism.
No one party could claim the leadership position by default, making PH seem divided at times. In a country where the citizens are more used to seeing BN as a united coalition led by a dominant Malay party that is UMNO, PH was seen as incoherent and lacking a strong Malay leadership.The second problem was PH’s failure to address Malay anxiety. This was a significant failure but PH has always been – and probably is still - in denial about.
It is therefore not surprising that a Merdeka Centre poll conducted a year after GE14 found that the government’s popularity had plummeted and Malay insecurity had heightened. For example, to strengthen the judiciary, PH announced that the appointment of top judges will need to go through parliamentary vetting. To give more teeth to parliament, PH said more parliamentary select committees will be formed so that MPs can scrutinise the executive more effectively.
READ: Commentary: Malaysia’s political centre has shifted but national leaders are still searching for it