THE “door is always open” statement by the Parliamentary Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin that he does not discount the prospect of Perikatan Nasional (PN) returning to power is a sombre reminder why the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim unity government should have zero tolerance for toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race and religion.
The perpetuation of toxic politics based on falsehoods could destroy not only the Anwar government but plural Malaysia as well.
The PN government is not concerned about achieving a tiger economy status for Malaysia or restoring Malaysia’s greatness as world-class plural nation in education, health, social or environmental terms, but in a direction which will end up on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057 as a divided, failed and kleptocratic state.
This was why the first PN government under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was such a dismal failure in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic despite his violation of the Federal Constitution in illegitimately, illegally and unconstitutionally suspending Parliament in January 2021 to deal with the pandemic.
Following the six-month suspension of Parliament, Malaysia ended up with 10 times more COVID-19 cases and 24 times more COVID-19 deaths in cumulative total for these two figures than at the start of the suspension of Parliament.
Hamzah must be proven wrong that PN is able to capture Selangor state power in the coming state general elections and that PN has a 50-50 chance to capture Negri Sembilan.
The Anwar unity government must work out a strategy in the six state general elections for Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu that will send out the message that there is no such thing as an irresistible “green tide” phenomenon in Malaysian politics.
And on the contrary, the six state general elections results point to a strengthening of the likelihood that the Anwar unity government can last five years.
The six state general elections are a mini-15th General Election (GE15) although it will be held after the GE15 on Nov 19.
Hamzah’s speech at the Concorde Club is a reaffirmation that PAS under its president Tan Sri Hadi Awang will continue to camouflage under PN as Hadi has turned out to be the biggest practitioner of the toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race and religion in Malaysia.
The prospect that the Anwar unity government can last five years hinges on political stability to carry out the greatest job in Malaysia – stopping the national decline after six decades of nationhood.
This entails a reset of nation-building policies to return to the original nation-building principles of the nation’s founding fathers as reflected in the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara by first restoring foreign investor confidence and to stem the emigration of highly skilled talents from Malaysia, especially in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) sectors.
Let all Malaysians rise up to the occasion to make Malaysians all over the world proud to be Malaysians again. – Jan 5, 2023
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.
