Will Kita survive?

Political analysts say the party must emphasise its agenda on good governance and work with other movements.

PETALING JAYA: With Kita now opening its membership to non-Malays, analysts are saying that it needs more than just a multiracial character to survive as a political party.

Yesterday, the Registrar of Societies approved Kita’s application to accept non-Malays as members. Kita used to be Akim, a party splintered from PAS with its membership restricted to Muslims.

FMT talked to three political analysts and they agree that Kita is still seen as a Zaid Ibrahim party, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how he articulates the party’s ideals.

“Zaid is known for his stand on equality, freedom and respect for the constitution,” said Khoo Kay Peng, whose advice was that he should continue to champion those issues, but in Kita’s name.

For starters, he added, Kita should unveil its election manifesto to the public as soon as possible.
With heavy competition from other multi-racial parties, namely PKR, DAP, Gerakan and the People’s Progressive Party, one way Kita could rise above the fray is to emphasise its struggle to promote good governance, he said.

Khoo also reminded the party that while it was good to open its doors to non-Malays, it should understand that maintaining its membership would be another challenge altogether.

He cited the example of PKR, which despite being on the political scene for more than 10 years, was still having problems with defections.

“Unlike the more seasoned DAP and PAS, it will take time for a new party like PKR or Kita to prove its mettle,” he said.

Khoo cautioned Zaid not to use his party as a platform to attack others, for it might prove to be the young party’s undoing.

“If Zaid is going to use Kita to attack Anwar Ibrahim or PKR, it will fail because that would be getting too personal,” he said.

Influential movements
Another analyst, Ong Kian Meng, thinks Kita’s influence will be concentrated only in the constituency that Zaid will be contesting in the next election.

“The fact is Kita is still seen as a Zaid party and the latter’s reputation is somewhat tarnished with his resignation from PKR,” he said.

Zaid, who was vying for PKR’s deputy presidency, left the party last year after accusing the party of rigging its internal elections to ensure the victory of his rival, Azmin Ali.

Ong said Kita could survive only if it joined forces with other influential movements such as the United Borneo Front, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement and Hindraf.

“It has to reach out to broader base,” he said.

Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia agrees. He said working with other movements would help Kita strengthen its machinery.

“And the party should focus on urban areas for now as Zaid is more appealing to urban voters,” he said.
Commenting on Zaid’s statement that he was not concerned about the size of Kita’s membership,

Sivamurugan said the party needed a few thousand members in order to take its political message across Malaysia, “unless, of course, Zaid wishes to focus on limited areas only.”
Kita is said to have about 300 members.