I THINK nobody in his or her right mind will ask for Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim to toe the party line.
As a backbencher and senior leader of the PKR, Hassan has all the right in the world to ask for the replacement of the UMNO president and the current Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Hassan commented that Zahid, given his bad reputation, is a burden to the Madani government. He should be replaced by a non-tainted UMNO leader.
Hassan being a senior leader had expressed his views, which were immaterial to their reception with the party leadership or within the coalition government.
This is what right-minded politicians should do rather than play yes-man politics.
It is not that the reputation of Zahid as a politician and UMNO leader is not known.
Whether one likes it or not, Zahid is the albatross around the neck of both UMNO and the coalition government.
Whatever Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says about Zahid, the latter was given a discharge not amounting to acquittal on the 47 corruption and money laundering charges.
The DNAA (discharge not amounting to acquittal) remains an egregious shame on the Madani government for getting more Malay votes.
A recent commentator said that Hassan should not have crossed the red line in his comments. Although Hassan was warned by his party leaders, he remains unfazed. In fact, he said that he was prepared to be sacked by the party.
Unfortunately, while PKR has a maverick like Hassan who is prepared to question the UMNO leadership, there is no elected representative in the DAP to do the same.
The DAP despite having 40 MPs in Parliament, seems to be intimidated by UMNO who has only 26 MPs. DAP’s relationship with UMNO is like the relationship of the latter with the MCA a few decades ago. This is the reason why the DAP is dubbed MCA 2.0.
The DAP’s leadership dare not open their mouth in questioning the DNAA gift to Zahid but was timid enough not to question the Pardons Board partial sentence to the former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Recently, Hassan also took umbrage at the lack of reforms initiated by the Madani government.
Anwar has been a big disappointment to Malaysians who want reforms.
This is the reason why Hassan endorsed the call for Bersih to organise a mammoth rally against the government.
I fully support Hassan in his quest for justice in the country. I have known him since the 1980s as a political activist focused on the creation of a Malaysian society based on egalitarian norms and values.
PKR, DAP and other political parties should look at the “mirror of Hassan” to know where they have gone wrong. – Feb 11, 2024
Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the former DAP state assemblyman for Perai. He is also the former deputy chief minister II of Penang.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: MalaysiaNews
