THE opposition should stop daydreaming about toppling the federal government and should instead just focus on becoming a formidable opposition that can work together with the government to build the country, said PKR vice president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Directing his statement at Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Nik Nazmi further pointed out that the opposition should have a better understanding of the country’s legal processes especially now with the anti-party hopping law in place.
“Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu’s statement that the federal government can be changed if Perikatan Nasional (PN) wins the state elections shows that he doesn’t understand the law.
“Enough with all this talk about toppling the federal government. The nation saw many changes in government (in the past four years) and we must heed the call by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a stable government to lead the country now,” Nik Nazmi was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.
Yesterday (Aug 6), Ahmad Faizal claimed that the federal government can be replaced, even with an anti-party hopping law in place.
“There is a legal process that can be taken to change a government as well as the state government,” he said at a PN event in Sendayan, Negri Sembilan yesterday (Aug 6), without elaborating on how it could be done even if PN were to win the polls in all six state this Saturday (Aug 12).
Nik Nazmi, who is also Setiawangsa MP, added that the people do not want to witness events that could disrupt the stability of the government.
“Let’s put aside our political differences after the state elections to develop the country. Our nation is in need of economic development, investments and jobs.
“If there is a constant change in government, no plan will ever materialise. Even talking about a change in government won’t help our economic recovery.
So, being a good opposition is sufficient. Ahmad Faizal has already lost anyway,” he said, referring to the Bersatu leader’s defeat to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the Tambun parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) last year.
The anti-hopping law was enacted to prevent elected representatives who were elected under the ticket of a political party from hopping over to another political party after securing the contested seat, with this law was specially enacted to prevent another “Sheraton Move”.
The “Sheraton Move” refers to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government 22 months after the coalition won the 14th General Election (GE 14) in 2018.
The incident saw a mass exodus of PH MPs, who left to join Bersatu, including then-Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and then-Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, both senior PKR leaders at the time.
This led to then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepping down from office after announcing that he had lost majority support.
Subsequently, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin took over the office from Dr Mahathir and formed the PN government. – Aug 7, 2023
