ON May 9, 2018, the 14th General Election (14GE) paved the way for Pakatan Harapan (PH) to win the Melaka State for the first time since Malaysia gained its independence in 1957.
PH won 15 seats while Barisan Nasional (BN) won 13 in a shock defeat for the latter.
In February 2020, the Sheraton Move led to the collapse of the PH-led Government in Putrajaya with the fall of PH governments in a few states ensued.
Melaka was one of the states that had a new government, no thanks to the betrayal and disloyalty of voters by several members of the PH coalition who jumped to the Barisan Nasional (BN) or Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
In a way, this marked the failure of Malaysia’s “Democratic System”.
On Oct 5, the Melaka state legislative assembly was dissolved out of another betrayal and greed. This has nothing to do with PH although some politicians blamed PH for the collapse of the Melaka state government.
Importance of Melaka state election
Despite concerns of SOP (standard operating procedure) violations in a fierce contest involving BN, PN and PH may trigger high COVID-19 infection rate across the country as per the Sabah election last year, the people of Melaka must make their voices heard by choosing the right State Government.
It is time for people to win in the election – not those greedy politicians.
On October 10, 2019, Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan, who is also a Melaka state executive councillor, and Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaren were arrested by Bukit Aman officers.
They were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) – a draconian national security law enacted in 2012 by being accused of having ties with the defunct separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or Tamil Tigers.
Subsequently, the court rejected their application for bail because the charges against them involved national security.
Tommy Thomas, the then Attorney-General, said the drafters of the 2012 law and the Parliament under the previous BN government had voted in favour of SOSMA without taking into account that the law could erode the judicial function of the courts based on Section 13 of the law.
He also claimed that “consequently, judicial power is generally eroded”.
The above statement by the former AG clearly shows that there was a well-planned plot designed by the plotters of the Sheraton move to tarnish DAP and Pakatan’s image by purposely linking their members to a terrorist organisation.
Although all of the accused were later released in the absence of evidence, this was the precursor to the fall of the PH regime and the Melaka State Government helmed by PH.
However, I believe that the people of Melaka will always stand behind justice and fairness. It is not fair and right to use government tools wrongly to gain or retain power as some have done.
The Melaka state election result will be a model – a test – that will get us to GE-15. If PH can wrest control of the Melaka State, then there is no doubt that the coalition can take over Putrajaya without any obstacles in the 15GE.
So, at any cost, every PH leader must work together in this very crucial battle – by putting aside their obvious differences – to win over the Melaka state and return the power to Malaccans. – Nov 7, 2021
Pappa Raidu Veraman is founder of the Malaysian Indian Voice.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
