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Malaysia’s Bersama party adds defectors to challenge governing alliance

The new party leadership recruited another PKR defector, Wong Chen, who resigned his Subang seat on August 10.

Reported · Written up by our desk · North America

Malaysian politics is facing a potential new challenge to the governing Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition as Parti Bersama Malaysia, led by Rafizi Ramli and former minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, gains momentum.

The party, now a little more than three months old under its current leadership, recently attracted another defector from PKR. Wong Chen, a three-term MP who spent nearly 20 years in Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party, resigned his Subang seat on August 10.

The SCMP Economy notes that the timing adds pressure for PH, which has suffered back-to-back losses in state elections to Barisan Nasional, PH’s former rival turned federal partner.

Bersama is framed as a progressive alternative and, at the same time, a possible “second front,” as it could draw away reform-minded voters PH cannot afford to lose.

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