I have written quite a bit about the 3rd Force in the past.
And, of late, its being spoken of again.
Even Zahid Hamidi, in an effort to displace Alan Perera and Indi Nadarajah as the local happening comedy guys, has had his say, suggesting that “Umno and its allies can become the nation’s “third force” “.
So what is the 3rd Force?
In a post here on 19th May, 2016, touching on what numbers it would take to constitute a 3rd Force, I resorted to the the online thefreedictionary.com for a definition of the phrase.
“A group of people or nations that mediates between two opposed groups, such as hostile nations”
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary offers this : a grouping (as of political parties or international powers) intermediate between two opposing political forces
Whichever definition you look at, you can see that Zahid, in suggesting UMNO & gang as the 3rd Force, might be suffering a touch of foot-in-mouth disease, the cure for which is a vow of silence.
For our sake, permanently.
Both definitions envisage a force flanked by two other groupings opposed to each other.
In our current political context, that would pit PH on one side, opposed by the recently minted UMNO-PAS coalition.
I have, in the past, suggested that the 3rd Force might be an empowered and awakened rakyat, and that the hundreds of thousands on the streets during the Bersih rally on 9th July, 2011 was a force to be reckoned with and could be seen as the 3rd Force.
Then, in a post on 10th August, 2010, I offered the following : A third force of independent candidates comprising the best that civil society has to offer…
Back then, I got whacked in social media for mooting this idea, mainly by the cybertroopers of a Pakatan Rakyat party seen then to be the weakest on many fronts.
On 25th October, 2019, speaking at the “Whither Maruah Malaysia 2.0” forum, Prof Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi, a man I have never met but whose writings and thoughts I greatly admire, proposed as follows :
“For the first time, I am calling for the formation of the (coalition of) independent candidates because a single independent candidate cannot win. But (if we have) 40 or 50 under civil society, then we can do this…We must send our own people’s representatives (wakil rakyat) so we can directly influence (the country’s policy)…The coalition will work with existing parties like PSM, MCA, MIC, Gerakan and parties from Sabah and Sarawak and form a big third force,”
I think this call is timely, and one which the good people in PH ( yes, there are ) should welcome.
The Prof speaks again tonight.
I shall attend to listen to him first-hand.
The People's Parliament 
bigjoe99
November 18, 2019
The issue is Mahathir and Bersatu, its the hypocrisy of Malay leaders, the Ketuanan ideology. It was a myth and lie that is now tying us up in knots. Mahathir and Bersatu does not believe they can lead without the Ketuanan ideology. if the Third force can deal with that instead of just competing with Pakatan Harapan, then yes, by all means. BUT if all the third force does is compete with Pakatan to push them to do what they are already fear to do, then, it makes things worst.
This is no different than fighting the intractable Trump supporters in the US. They are blind-faithed, there are no simple answer as just the third force that compete and demand of Pakatan.
By right the third force, should be Amanah, but while they are admirable in spirit and ideology, their plan sucks. Mat Sabu and his co-horts are heros but their ideas are idealistic not realistic.
The real issue is everyone who takes up this problem says “Islam is so much more”. What they do not get it, that is the problem – the much more include all the things that makes the problem. Its so much harder to do the better side of anything, its always easier to go down the low road.