Will this Friday be a good Friday?

COMMENT | The Christians celebrate Good Friday, a day of remembrance for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Supporters of Pakatan Harapan will have their own Friday this Feb 21. It is yet to be seen if it is a good Friday for them to remember, or as expected, a day of the crucifixion of another kind to befall this coalition.

If goodwill and common sense prevail, then a date will be announced when the incumbent will vacate the seat, and the successor takes over. This will be a huge relief for the country grappling with the Covid-19 outbreak and a slow economy. Many of us are hoping that democracy will prevail, and the chance of the promised reforms to continue with much more seriousness.

On the other hand, Harapan will come to an end with an announcement of the usual kind - that which lacks sincerity and certainty. An example of that will be the incumbent will leave after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. A full-term means at the end of Apec and a full two-term is also at the end of Apec.

Ever since the historic May 9, 2018, victory, the hope of the nation is that we have somehow found a new path for the people of this country, but that has turned out to be short-lived. Reforms that matter did not materialise and key institutions that we expect to be fiercely independent and impartial turned out to be lame and not much different than those before 2018.

For those who can see clearly, this was not surprising. Instead, a collaboration of anti-democratic forces working to undo the gains made by the people came from day one after the election result. The election result of 2018 has energised the opponents of democracy to get together to subvert Harapan in all its actions. I call these anti-democratic forces the "supremacists".

These supremacists are the strongmen of Malaysian politics. They are both within Harapan and outside, which makes them very powerful and dangerous. They don't want PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim (above), and that also means they have to weaken DAP - known to be Anwar's supporter.

They want to dictate the people that are "acceptable" to lead the country. They decide which Malays in Umno and PKR are acceptable and which Chinese are acceptable to be their partners. Those DAP leaders and supporters are not qualified as all are supposedly anti-national and communists and must be removed from the vestiges of power.

After 30 years of describing PAS leaders as utterly useless and backward, now they embrace these PAS leaders with love and lots of money for Kelantan. They somehow believe that, together with PAS, they can save the Malays, Islam and the country.

This strong desire to remove Anwar and DAP is simply because both of them, unlike the supremacists, believe in democracy. Both Anwar and DAP will defend democracy until the end.

The struggle in 2018 was about the need for a democratic government and the rights of the people to choose their leaders. Their choice should have been respected. They had chosen Anwar and DAP, and that too should have been respected.

A true reformist who believes in democracy will not try to interfere with the people's choice - that Anwar becomes the eighth prime minister. A reformist will not begrudge DAP holding positions of authority in government because of their strength in Parliament. A reformist and a democrat will not ask if Anwar has the support in Parliament as a precondition to taking the oath of office when such condition is not required since he assumes office as part of the government of the day and by agreement of all Harapan partners.

Of course, it is expected that as the new PM, Anwar will seek a vote of confidence on his first day in Parliament. Tun Hussein Onn did the same, when there were voices within Umno then that said he had no support from the party.

People are mistaken that the issue on Friday is all about Anwar wanting to become PM. It's a much larger and more important question - do we defend democracy and the results of a democratic election?

Do we respect and honour the result of the 2018 election and the agreement within Harapan itself? Anwar and DAP were stakeholders in that process, and the people accepted them. They are not perfect and have the flaws which humans suffer from, but democracy provides an avenue to remove them five years from the last general election.

The supremacists, on the other hand, think they know better than the people, and the results of a democratic election can be changed by some dubious ways like secret meetings at midnight and the signing of statutory declarations. They can't wait five years to unseat Anwar, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu. They are the true enemies of democracy, and the people of this country have to fight them until the victory of 2018 is complete.

I appeal to the leaders in Harapan not to give an inch to those who are, in essence, the enemies of democracy. I also urge the leaders from Sabah and Sarawak to understand the issues and their significance here in the peninsula. Let them not be clouded by their preference to certain personalities and risk abandoning the more important matters that will keep this nation together.

Personalities come and go, but democratic elections and all its processes must be preserved. Malaysia must be forever ruled by those selected through the people's vote and the result respected.

The supremacists, on the other hand, are like the coronavirus and the best way is to quarantine them from infecting Sabah and Sarawak and thereby saving Malaysia as well.

ZAID IBRAHIM is a former minister.

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