WHETHER calculated from when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was appointed Prime Minister (PM) on Nov 24, 2022 or when his unity Cabinet was formed on Dec 3 last year, Anwar had passed the “100 Days” test while the Perikatan Nasional (PN) had failed.
To retired DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, the Anwar unity government had passed four crucial tests in its 100 Days, namely (i) the convening of the 15th Parliament; (ii) the vote of confidence in Anwar as the 10th PM; (iii) the passage of the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address; and yesterday, (iv) the second reading of the revised Budget 2023.
“The hopes that had boosted Malaysians in the first 100 Days had not faded, and it remains the hope of many that the Anwar unity government can deliver to reset and return Malaysia to its original nation-building principles,” observed Kit Siang in his latest blog. “While the Anwar unity government had passed the first 100 Days test, PN had failed dismally.”
According to the veteran lawmaker, PN MPs were conspicuous in their absence of constructive suggestions as to how the opposition could contribute to fight the bane of Malaysian politics in terms of political stability and commitment to good governance, anti-corruption and abuses of power in both the parliamentary debates on the royal address and Budget 2023 policy debate.
“In fact, the very opposite took place. The PM-designate of PN (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) had been arrested to be charged in court on several counts of corruption,” Kit Siang pointed out.
“This was very different from the 1990s when PAS under the leadership of Datuk Fadzil Noor and Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat was the spark of hope and fresh air for a better Malaysia by playing a seminal role in the reformasi days until PAS came out with the slogan ‘PAS for all’.”
Fast forward to current times, the former Iskandar Puteri MP said PAS now presents a different chant, an intolerant and extremist version of Islam where it became a main instrument in the divisive and toxic politics of lies, falsehood, lies, race and religion with its president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang making preposterous allegation that DAP was promoting Islamophobia but is unable to substantiate his claim for four months already.
“But what is even more shocking is Hadi’s equation of corruption with charity and his justification of corruption for Muslims,” lamented Kit Siang.
“PAS under Hadi is not concerned if Malaysia sinks lower in the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) or if Malaysia is overtaken by Indonesia, India, China or even Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) states.”
Added the former Opposition leader for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions: “When will PAS become moderate again? The nation cannot wait for PAS to be moderate.” – March 10, 2023
