PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s most patriotic duty right now is to abstain from the vote of confidence in Parliament as his opposition to the motion would mean that he subordinates the country’s stability and future to his own personal and selfish zeal to become a “backdoor” Prime Minister (PM) again.
I think I have the qualifications to tell the Bersatu president a thing or two how to be a responsible Opposition leader having served as Malaysia’s longest Opposition leader – even in the darkest days of parliamentary democracy in the country. (Editor’s Note: PN has recently appointed Larut MP and Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin as the Opposition leader).
I remember the first vote of confidence in the history of Malaysian Parliament in 1976, after the second PM Tun Razak Hussein died and Tun Hussein Onn became the third PM of Malaysia.
The DAP MPs abstained and did not oppose the vote of confidence in Tun Hussein as the third PM but in my speech on the motion, I spoke of how Malaysia could be a united, progressive, purposive and prosperous nation.
I touched on the growing discontent among the Malay poor that the fruits of development were enjoyed by the owners of privilege, and the growing frustration among non-Malays who were more and more convinced that they did not have a future in Malaysia with large numbers of non-Malay professionals having left or were preparing to emigrate overseas.
I also outlined the decline in moral authority of the government because of rampant corruption in high political places – whether at the Federal or State government levels – and increasing deception and dishonesty in public life.
I gave four proposals to solve the ills of the nation, namely:
- Re-define the class relations in Malaysia so that the government ceased to protect and promote vested interests or privilege and the possessing class but to abolish and end exploitation and poverty;
- To regain the confidence of all races that they and their children had an assured future in this country;
- To restore the moral authority of government by stamping out corruption and eliminating dishonesty in public life; and
- To reinstate public confidence and trust in the efficacy and meaning of democratic processes and rights.
The vote of confidence in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia’s 10th PM will be the second vote of confidence in the history of Malaysian Parliament.
Let Muhyiddin stand up in Parliament on the motion of confidence to state what are his proposals to resolve the paramount questions of the country: the unity of Malaysians and how Malaysia could end the decline of the nation from a first-rate world-class nation to a second-rate mediocre country, in danger of becoming a failed, divided and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial.
If Muhyiddin opposes the vote of confidence in Parliament, it will mean that he is not prepared to subordinate his selfish interest to be “backdoor” PM again and that he will do his utmost to topple Anwar as the 10th PM through the creation of a Sheraton Move 2.0 political conspiracy. – Dec 19, 2022
Retired DAP supremo and veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang was the former MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
