Let me give you an example: the recent shooting of tigers, panthers, endangered species. To me that's tragic. I think a society is judged by how it treats its animals. The responses that we are getting from the government are so callous, so uncaring. And yet, there's not one single opposition politician who has spoken out on this issue. To make it worse, in Kelantan, which is an opposition-held state, there seems to be a tiger-free policy, you know, "shoot tigers'…So you wonder what is the position of the opposition on major issues like sustainable development, about the conflict between environmental protection and rapid development.

This is an example of an opposition that does not have a well-thought out agenda for the country.

Ganesh: The first thing is: is there really dialogue - sincere, open dialogue among the various opposition parties? For example, does PAS really engage the DAP or Keadilan in genuine dialogue, mutual respect, mutual understanding? Or is it just scoring political points? Is it just all about getting seats and winning votes?

Most people recognize the need for an opposition that will address some of the fundamental problems that we are facing today. Yet we don't see that coming out.

What is the manifesto of the opposition political parties…

Ganesh: Yeah, but what's happened to it? You don't hear of it anymore; you don't hear it being debated or discussed at ceramahs. Okay, the Alternative Budget was a good start, but that got bogged down, got side-tracked into other sorts of problems.

We need an enlightened opposition; we need an opposition that will address the economic challenges facing the country, the challenges of security threats, of declining investment, of competition, and of building a nation that can face up to these challenges.

We need to look at our education system. We need to look at the religious tensions, the ethnic, cultural tensions in society.

These challenges are there for the opposition to take up and to come out with a well-thought-out or a well-debated platform, an agenda for change for the country. But you don't see that happening really.

Ganesh: Maybe it's desirable to have a single coalition; I think that's the realpolitik. You want to have a coalition of different parties who think they can win an election.

But the issue of religion - you are right, it's a major factor at the moment. Not just here but in many other parts of the world as well. I cannot accept an Islamic state, which is going to treat me as a second class or third class citizen.

Non-Muslims have to engage with Muslims who are open, who are liberal, who are not dogmatic, who are prepared to engage in mutual discourse with non-Muslims. And I think it is the non-Muslims who have to reach out to this group of Muslims who will practise the universal teachings of Islam, and who will not be bound by the need for example to establish an Islamic state overnight or even over time.

We need to engage in dialogue, in an open manner. And this is not blasphemy: I think it's fine to question for example the legislation on rape…and also to move away from things like for example what the Terengganu government is coming out in terms of tourism policy guidelines. To me I don't see what is the spiritual value of imposing this sort of regulations. I mean in what way do these regulations enrich people spiritually and morally? I can't see the connection.

So move away from the form and go for the substance…

Ganesh: I think there are. I think they themselves are probably an embattled segment of the Muslim population because they have to contend with various forces within Islam. And I think that this is the group that is the future of any sort of opposition politics in Malaysia because this is the group that will be able to transcend the conventional interpretation….

Ganesh: It has to start from a civil society process before it evolves into a political process. The NGOs have a big role to play here.

Can you think of a Muslim NGO which has got a liberal agenda, which will not agree with the imposition of an Islamic state in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like Malaysia, which will not tolerate the persecution of minorities, but instead will talk about human rights, the environment, social justice issues?

Ganesh: That's a tough question. I think we just have to start with individuals. We have to start with individuals reaching out to people whom they know within the power structures, within the existing NGOs, and convincing them that this is the only way that Malaysia is going to move forward as a country, where there is going to be genuine mutually respectful, tolerant understanding among the Muslims and non-Muslims.

It's not easy. It's going to be a long process. And it may even start within the BN, or segments of the BN for all we know. But I can't see it happening now, with the current political parties. Perhaps Keadilan, I'm not sure. And maybe PRM - there are some PRM people who genuinely believe in a tolerant, liberal, multi-religious Malaysian society.

Ganesh: The grassroots groups that I know of are genuinely non-ethnic, non-religious. They function because of the needs of the marginalized communities in the country. They do not pursue religious or ethnic agendas. They have a big role to play, yes, but the numbers of these groups are very small and their constituency is also very small.

Perhaps that's one way to start. These are the groups that will eventually be a starting point for this kind of inter-religious discourse between the Muslims and non-Muslims, between ethnic groups.

Ganesh: There are so many difficult and complex issues that need to be addressed. Politically it's difficult for any opposition party to function effectively given the current security environment, the repressive conditions not just in Malaysia but globally. It's a challenging time for any kind of opposition politics and NGOs.

One wonders whether it's also an opportunity in some sense because people have to take very rational, very well-thought-out, sober positions on some of these problems of terrorism, the threat of war. Maybe the opposition political parties can come out with a kind of measured stand and that would be one way to rally support for them.

But they lack vision; there's no national vision among the opposition political parties. We need principled politicians, the politics of principles, now. That's what is missing in Malaysia now. We need a political agenda that is founded on principles, on values, on sincerity - a sincere genuine commitment for the development of the country.