YOURSAY | Harapan must project unity ahead of GE15

YOURSAY | ‘Presently, it’s like ‘Three Stooges’ and ‘Mr Bean’.’

COMMENT | Talk of 2018 replay may land Harapan in nightmare

Apanama is Back: The real problem in Pakatan Harapan now is disunity. Look at the leaders: PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke and, to a certain extent, DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng. These party leaders are working and giving statements in isolation.

Did anyone notice that, say, for the last six to eight months? All of them are not on the same page.

If they were not on the same page, do you think I would vote for them? If they are not on the same page now, how are they going to run the country if they win? It will be the same drama as what happened in 2018.

What surprises me most is that none of these Harapan leaders ever learned a lesson from those 22 months before the Sheraton Move.

On one hand, Anwar says calling others infidels should be stopped. On the other hand, Mat Sabu feels sympathy for PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang. Loke plans to work with Umno after the 15th general election and Lim talks about ringgit depreciation.

It is like the old sitcom ‘Three Stooges’ and the new ‘Mr Bean’. Given this, who will be the happiest? Of course, Umno.

To columnist and political scientist Wong Chin Huat and other analysts, do continue to write hard-hitting comments and opinion pieces on these Harapan leaders.

Never mind if they call you rude. Because remember one thing, the nation comes first, not the leaders of both political divides. Every one of us has a responsibility to save our country.

OrangePanther1466: Chin Huat, this is a good article. I generally agree with you. May I surmise as follows:

1. GE14 was all about kicking out Najib.

2. Harapan’s manifesto was too liberal for most Malays to accept wholesale.

3. Affirmative action programmes would still be needed for the bumiputeras. You cannot give the shock treatment by adopting meritocracy immediately.

4. Harapan’s collapse could not be avoided. Even liberal urban Malays will be concerned by Harapan manifesto implementation. So, Harapan supporters should accept this and stop blaming Mahathir.

5. We need to reform the political landscape to move away from the race and religion narrative and instead focus on accountability and good governance. Religion is important to instil the proper values.

6. Multiparty post-election coalitions should and must be the norm going forward.

7. Sarawak and Sabah will be the kingmakers. Need to engage them.

My take is Harapan and BN will be the main players in a post-GE15 coalition government. Of course, BN will be minus the court cluster as there is no way these characters should be in government. Ismail Sabri Yaakob is likely to keep his job as prime minister if he doesn't screw up.

I hope I have surmised it accurately, Prof Wong.

Guglu: I totally agree with Chin Huat. Looking back to Harapan’s victory in 2018 scared me to my very bones.

The broken promises, the return of the Look East policy, the quarrels with Singapore, the interferences with the judiciary, and the toxic and vengeful politics led by an old bitter man were the hallmarks of Harapan’s rule. The euphoria of the victory was dissipated within weeks due to the incompetency of Harapan’s ministers.

Now that former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is languishing in prison (more correctly, in a hospital ward, sigh), there are no mass demonstrations to show support for him. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will follow soon.

It just shows that Umno won in the successive by-elections not because of Najib or Zahid, but because of the Malay hatred towards Harapan.

Given that Umno has cleansed itself by removing Najib and Zahid, Harapan should work with Umno. Harapan needs the Malays. Without them, Harapan would remain in the opposition forever. That is a sad fact.

Scarecrow: “Should religion be made a completely private matter in which the government totally stays out of (secularism in the strictest sense)?”

“Should ancestry - perhaps except for the indigenous peoples - be completely excluded from state policies on competition or affirmative actions (absolute colour-blindness in meritocracy or social justice)?”

“If the answers are ‘yes’ for both questions, then this purist form of multi-ethnic politics may be supported by less than 20 percent of voters.”

Yes, the writer is right. If Harapan wants to win in GE15, they must say “no” to both questions above.

Firstly, Islam must be made an important component of the government of the day, especially Hadi’s brand of Islam which reveals Harapan leaders to be lack faith, immoral and corrupt.

The beautiful religion must also be allowed to dictate and determine whether certain practices are allowed in the country or not, like Bon Odori, Oktoberfest, concerts with performers wearing revealing clothes, and lottery shops or not.

In short, Pakatan Harapan must make sure that Malaysia is not made a secular country.

Secondly, Harapan must also make sure that Malaysia is not turned into a meritocratic country which only benefits the Chinese because as the writer rightly pointed out that “not just Malays, but even Indians and Borneo natives objecting to pure meritocracy”.

Very good analysis. Harapan leaders and their supporters must take note, otherwise GE15 “may land Harapan in nightmare”.

MS: “…78 percent of Malaysia’s population live in urban areas and 97 percent of Malaysians use the internet…”

If those are indeed facts, then Malaysia’s situation is far direr. If the ignorance of the rural Malays is not the key enabler of the kleptocracy we know, it can only mean that it is their indifference to the scourge of corruption and racism that saw the rise of the kleptocrats now running the roost.

This then points to the real possibility that fundamental differences in morals, values and ethics divide the country - not just race and religion though the latter is the bedrock on which these crippling values prevail.

The education system and the slow-release drug called the New Economic Policy (NEP) have been successful in erasing the line between right and wrong. Does that mean the country will continue to sink as the thieves and bigots take turns at the swill?

Man on the Silver Mountain: I pray that sanity will prevail instead of racism and religious bigotry. Not that loyalty to race and religion is wrong, but we have seen it has been used to perpetuate their stay in power for selfish individual interests. The people should see this as it is.

Those leaders who cried race and religion are using it to stay in power for position and privilege and to enrich themselves.

It is nothing about race and religion at all. Even if it is for religion, it was not for the true teaching of the religion but was hijacked for political expediency. In other words, hypocrisy by hypocrites.

The task of the party that wants to turn Malaysia around from divisiveness due to the use of racism and religion in politics must be to disseminate this message to the masses.

Let them have a clear picture of what it is all about and how they have been cheated and used to benefit those in power to plunder the country.

They must know that what was considered sacrosanct, like the Tabung Haji, Felda, Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) or the Armed Forces Pension Fund (LTAT), was desecrated by their sacrilegious plundering.

Nothing is safe from their greed. The people must see the destruction done to the country by selfish leaders. The people must see them for what they are.

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