LETTER | Time for a new leader in Harapan

LETTER | Last Thursday, the true colours of opposition head Anwar Ibrahim was revealed. In a last-minute instruction, he directed all Pakatan Harapan MPs to not vote down Budget 2021 at the policy stage in the Dewan Rakyat.

This was despite weeks of ramping up the pressure on defeating the budget and months of anticipation of toppling the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government during this crucial vote. And when the critical moment appeared, what did Harapan leaders do? They backed off!

Anwar has tried to justify Harapan's decision by saying that the bloc did not want to railroad portions of the budget, which was crucial, especially to frontliners battling Covid-19. And neither did Harapan want to go against the wishes of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

But that was not the picture painted to Harapan's supporters from the day Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz tabled the budget on Nov 6. From the get-go, Harapan's campaign focussed on tearing the budget into pieces, whether in harping on the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), Employees Provident Fund withdrawals or the alleged insufficient health funds to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

All the remedial action taken by the government to tweak the budget was not sufficient. And the opposition supporters lapped up Harapan's drivel, thinking that eight months of backdoor Perikatan Nasional rule is enough and that the bloc should reclaim its rightful place in Putrajaya.

But sheepishly, Harapan not only backtracked but justified its decision with incoherent reasons. For example, if it did not want to go against the Agong by voting against the budget, would it not be doing so if it rejects the bill at the committee stage?

We Harapan supporters would not have blamed Anwar, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu had the attempt failed. Given the composition of the Lower House, the vote could have swung either way. Besides, PN had the advantage of being in government.

The road to Putrajaya is a long and windy one. It took 10 years from 2008 when BN first lost its traditional two-thirds majority in the polls to the coalition's eventual toppling in 2018. Even defeated last Thursday, we can always come back and fight again.

But voters are upset that the Anwar-led Harapan did not even try as a matter of principle, unlike Pejuang leaders like Dr Mahathir Mohamad who stood their ground. Harapan has only lent legitimacy to Muhyiddin Yassin's administration. Anwar's claim of "strong, convincing" majority is just that - an unproven claim.

If we can't even trust Harapan to do things right when they are out of government, I don't see how we can thrust them back into Putrajaya. Anwar at the helm, with his endless political theatrics, has only served to chip away whatever credibility Harapan has left.

At this rate, Harapan under Anwar is more a liability than the glue that initially held the component parties together. If Harapan is determined in wrestling back Putrajaya, it should now seriously consider ditching Anwar.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.