Battles might be lost and won, but the war goes on

ADUN SPEAKS | The legitimately constituted government of Pakatan Harapan, hardly two years in existence, was undermined by forces within and without.

A secret plot in the guise of a Malay only government was hatched some time back not only to scuttle the Harapan’s succession plan but to undermine the coalition itself.

It was no surprise that it was PKR’s former deputy president Mohd Azmin Ali who performed the pivotal treacherous role in the eventual collapse of the Harapan government.

In doing so, he was able to rope in PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin, members of parliament in his party, Umno, PAS, and those in GPS and others.

After nearly one week of confusion and chaos, Muhyiddin has been finally sworn as the eighth prime minister of Malaysia, although his majority might be contested by Harapan.

While power and greed is rather apparent in those who wrecked the Harapan government to form a coalition called Perikatan Nasional (PN) the argument by some apologists to defend the putsch as a move towards a Malay centred government cannot be sustained in the light of what transpired in the aftermath of the “Sheraton move” or even before this.

The argument that the Harapan government was dominated by non-Malays, that the DAP had a disproportionate hold on power, that the government was controlled by the non-Malays seem to have fitted the narrative of those who have sought to justify the putsch in the name of restoring Malay power or domination.

Such a move rationalised and exercised in racial and religious grounds provided a smokescreen to bring into fold politicians who were involved in rampant corruption, those who have slapped with multiple corruption and money laundering charges and those who have benefited from the corruption.

Bringing in corrupt politicians from Umno and others provides little or no legitimacy to the Perikatan Nasional coalition. It is shame and gutter politics!

Apart from the quest for naked power, spoils of the office and the vaulting ambition of one or two, there is no substance, dignity or pride in the new coalition.

A political coalition that sought power by sleeping with kleptocrats, is no political solution to Malaysians.

Harapan might have been inexperienced, might have lacked the numbers for a comfortable majority and might have been mired on the succession matter, but it had commitment.

Harapan held on to the overriding principle to bring about a clean and responsible government, it wanted to address the economic woes of the ordinary people and most importantly wanted to ensure crime does not pay by charging and prosecuting those who stole billions from the people to enrich themselves, their families and friends.

Malaysians irrespective of their background must think and act wisely as to what kind of government they want.

Harapan might not have been perfect, it might not resolve many problems, but I was firmly anchored in principles and a vision of what mattered to Malaysians.

A political formation in the name of PN just cannot be cobbled up overnight with kleptocrats to form a government that might be become beholden to those who robbed and maimed the county,

As far as I am concerned, the war against corruption, misuse of power, racism, religious intolerance and other misdeed is long and arduous one.

Battles might be won and lost, but the ultimate vision of engendering a united, tolerant and corruption-free Malaysia must be kept alive.

P RAMASAMY is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also deputy chief minister (II) of Penang.

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