Parti Sosialis Malaysia PSM, who officially got registered recently, is the newest opposition party with a ADUN and a MP (Kota Damansara and Sungai Siput). They have clarified that they will remain in the opposition (Malaysiakini):
… it’s secretary-general S Arutchelvan had reporters and party members in stitches when he declared: “We will never join BN (Barisan Nasional), we can guarantee you that.”
The party will also cooperate with Pakatan Rakyat on a minimal basis and if there is invitation to join PR, it will discussed at its congress.
During PSM’s recent congress in Port Dickson, one of the resolutions proposed by members was not to join the Pakatan coalition due to ideological differences.
Speaking on this, Arutchelvan said PSM and other Pakatan parties have always had differences in opinion on economic matters, in particular the issue of free trade.
PSM has always been against the free trade market ideology advocated by certain quarters within the ranks of other Pakatan parties.
“We believe that the free market ideology is here to crush and enslave workers. We have different perspectives (from other Pakatan parties) on policies of economics,” said Arutchelvan.
Both the ADUN and MP (Kota Damansara state assemblyperson Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim and Sungai Siput member of parliament Dr Michael D Jeyakumar) will remain independent in the views, says Arutchelvan.
“They will continue to fight for justice and for the people, a belief that defines PSM. Just because we contested under the PKR flag does not mean we have to carry their views,” he said.
“We already sent letters to the Speakers from both the Parliament and the state assembly to have their party’s name changed to PSM now that we have the official status,” he added.