PETALING JAYA: Parti Sosialis Malaysia's (PSM) decision to forge ahead with a renewed agenda to cultivate a strong left-wing movement is a step in the right direction and will add another dimension to the national political discourse, according to a political analyst.

As the political stances of Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional (BN) are not driven by ideology, Malaysians need an alternative view of how policies affect them and to what extent, said Boon Kia Meng.

Therefore, a strong left in Malaysia will add to the polemic on policies that affect the people's welfare, he said.

"The situation now is both coalitions do not have any coherent or consistent left leaning agenda. BN, as a political structure, is undergoing a fundamental crisis and it needs to find a viable political organisation to secure its political hegemony," said Boon, a philosophy lecturer and award-winning documentary producer.

"From a Marxian point of view, the ruling classes are made up of various factions of capitalists, senior state bureaucrats and politicians.

"These groups don't really care which political parties are in power, unless their rent-seeking opportunities are tied specifically to Umno. They will find the most suitable political structure for capital accumulation.

"In that sense, these groups would also seek to court Pakatan's state governments. These business interests would hedge their bets and support any pro-business political party or coalition," Boon said.

This is where the left would come in — to serve as a check and balance of the political coalitions, he said.

Championing socialist principles

Following a general election that left it practically empty-handed and pondering its future, PSM held its 15th annual congress recently and resolved to stay the course and continue to champion socialist principles and left-wing politics. This, the party believes, is a political aspect Malaysia could use right now.

The challenge for the party, PSM chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim told fz.com, is how to define socialism to people who are already biased against it.

(Socialism is defined as any of various theories or systems of social organisation in which the means of producing and distributing goods are owned or regulated by the community as a whole.)

Nasir said the party needs to cleanse negative perceptions about socialism that have been perpetuated over the years not only by the government, but by other political parties as well.

"Yes, we are facing hardship because we are carrying baggage from the past. But for us, the truth is socialism," he said.

"We are fighting for the truth. We know we are fighting for the truth amid a lot of blockages," he said.

Nasir said the party is already having dialogues with Malay leftist groups across the country.

"More people want to know about Islam and socialism," he said.

"It is a push and pull factor. When the government of the day is actively pursuing neo-liberal policies, which cause the poor to get poorer and workers to be increasingly exploited, where is the left?" he asked.

Historical baggage
The challenge remains to build the left, said Boon.

"The repression of the left, from the emergency years prior to Merdeka, and also in the 1960s and 1970s caused the democratic left movement to be very small and weak.

"But youths now are receptive to leftist ideas. So we have to reach out to youths who do not have the historical baggage of the older generation," he said.

Malaysia has not seen a strong left wing since the 1950s and 1960s, when the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM) joined forces with Parti Rakyat to form a coalition known as the Socialist Front.

In the 1959 general election, the coalition gained seats in mixed constituencies in Selangor, Johor and Penang. It also won 34.6% of the popular vote cast in the constituencies it contested before the arrests of key leaders under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for being seen as pro Indonesia in the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation.

Following this, the coalition collapsed and Parti Rakyat underwent a radical change. Under a new leadership, it was renamed Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia (PSRM), officially adopting scientific socialism as its ideology.

However, it never really made much headway in local politics and in 1990, PSRM reverted to Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which eventually merged with Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2003.

PSM is an offshoot of PRM and was founded in 1998 to uphold the socialist ideology.

Demand for leftist policies
PSM believes its move to build the left comes at the right time for the people.

There are several policies that the federal government is considering implementing — and which groups are opposed to — such as the goods and services tax (GST) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a free trade agreement that aims to liberalise the economy in the Pacific region.

And with a growing awareness among youths about the perceived failure of capitalism due to the growing divide between the rich and poor and the Occupy movement which has gained momentum worldwide, Boon feels there is a demand for leftist politics in Malaysia.

However, whether it will gain strong momentum here remains to be seen.

"We are under no illusions there will be a massive left. We will continue to champion working class interests and the poor, which is important in countries which have boom and bust economies," Boon said.

As for PSM, there are challenges ahead in its quest to rebrand itself.

Many Malaysians have a poor perception of socialism, relating it to communism and subsequently the violence that is attached to it.

A member of PSM told fz.com there is a crucial need to build a common understanding of socialism here.

To this end, the delegates at the conference agreed that the party needs to leverage its strength — the hard work done by members to champion marginalised communities, which cannot be ignored.

PSM may not gain widespread recognition for its work, but its move to build a left-wing movement will add another dimension to debates on national policies.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 5, 2013.