Can Malaysian reform party Bersama survive a founders’ scandal?

The reform party’s election campaign in Melaka has been dealt a blow after co-founder Nik Nazmi was hit by a religious morality scandal.

A Malaysian reform party led by two former cabinet ministers faces a new test ahead of a crucial state election after one of its founders was sidelined over an alleged religious morality offence, threatening its appeal to voters disillusioned with the country’s political establishment.

The controversy surrounding former environment minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad could undercut Bersama’s promise of delivering a different kind of politics in next month’s Melaka poll, analysts say – although some believe its core base will dismiss scrutiny into his personal life.

Nik Nazmi and former economy minister Rafizi Ramli relaunched Bersama in May after breaking with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party (PKR). Taking over a little-known party registered in 2016, they introduced a multiracial platform focused on wage growth, affordable housing, social protection and institutional reform.

But Bersama’s effort to build a movement beyond its high-profile founders now faces controversy over an alleged incident of khalwat – an Islamic offence concerning unmarried or non-related men and women being together in secluded spaces that could give rise to suspicion of immoral conduct. The offence does not require proof of adultery.