YOURSAY | Zahid or bust for unity govt?

YOURSAY | 'To save the country, small sacrifices must be made.'

DPM post: Zahid unpopular but vital for Anwar’s political survival

E Kumar: Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is an extremely popular choice for the deputy prime minister’s post if we are being honest and have not been living under a stone in the past few weeks.

The problem with the media is that they would rather play to the grievances of the other side and report on that because it sells - there are always two sides to every story. The fact is that the tune has dramatically changed since the 15th general election.

Pakatan Harapan supporters were quick to come to terms with Umno, because now, suddenly, it is to their benefit, and at the end of the day, isn’t that why we elect our government in a democracy? It is for the ultimate benefit of the people.

The majority of Harapan supporters are for Zahid as DPM, some grudgingly, yes, but most are very practical and objective about their sudden change of heart. This is based on what is being played on social media like Facebook and Twitter, the latter being a terribly influential political platform.

Look, facts are facts, whether you like it or not, and everyone is more than aware that the person that made all this possible was Zahid, who is also the BN chairperson.

Zahid is to Harapan as former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was to Perikatan Nasional (PN). Without Azmin, there will be no Sheraton Move and without Zahid, we’d all be living under a PAS-led government today.

Most Malaysians today, especially the non-Malays, have only Zahid to thank for this - he clearly went all out risking everything.

It was his daring and gall that persuaded GRS and GPS to switch their allegiances towards Harapan in the end - we cannot deny this fact. So, give Zahid the credit he is sorely due.

Fine, Zahid is part of the court cluster, yes, but so are DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng and Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

However, we make excuses for the latter two. We say things like it was politically motivated and all that nonsense, but we cannot accept it when Zahid claims the same - isn’t that the very definition of hypocrisy?

We speak about separation of power, yet we question our judiciary when we don’t like the outcome of their rulings. But when we do, suddenly the judiciary is fair and just.

Come on, we must trust and allow our courts to decide on their fates. They are all innocent until proven guilty, isn’t that how it goes? It’s Zahid for DPM or simply forget about a stable unity government.

Fellow Malaysian: In this argument of who to appoint as DPM in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's cabinet, I agree with James Chin, that this is not an ordinary situation as it is the first time in Malaysian history a unity government is seemingly stitched together.

Coupled with Zahid's court cases, this poses an intricate conundrum for Anwar's fledging government, bearing in mind that PN's Muhyiddin and Abdul Hadi Awang are watching with hawkish eyes, ready to pounce at the slightest weakness shown by Anwar's camp.

Ethics must be thrown out of the window, for otherwise, we will never get to appoint one of the DPMs. Anwar should go ahead and pick his choice for the post. NGOs and civil societies are often wrong as they are not directly involved in the cabinet.

Coward: Anwar has already said the DPM will be decided by Umno. Of course, the understanding is he must also agree with the choice. I don't think Zahid will be nominated for the post. Instead, a close confidant will be.

Zahid is most likely going after the Umno election, which must be held in six months. Meaning, in six months the government can be toppled by Umno withdrawing support. Hence, who heads Umno after the election is important.

I am sure the idea now is to give one of the pro-unity government Umno heavyweights the advantage for the election by installing him as DPM.

Milshah: The thinking among many including analysts and Harapan supporters is just baffling. Appoint Zahid as DPM, or else the unity government will collapse.

First and foremost, appointing Zahid as DPM is beside the point. For Umno members, when the party election comes, the first thing they have on their minds is - who was responsible for Umno's worst-ever GE performance?

Why did the Malays choose Bersatu and PAS over Umno? Umno is a Malay-based party just like Bersatu and PAS, but Umno was sidelined.

The most obvious is due to the leaders having court cases. Remember the mantra ' a vote for BN is a vote for Zahid’? The assumption was if BN wins, Zahid will be PM. Now Harapan wants him to be DPM!

Umno members will do a lot of soul-searching, and paramount to them is how to get the Malay votes. They will conclude, if leaders with court cases continue, the Malay voters will not return to Umno.

So, it's not whether Zahid is DPM or not. It's the Malay votes that Umno wants. And they will do the necessary to get back the Malay votes, irrespective if Zahid is DPM or not.

Here is an idea. Why not Anwar approach the other Umno MPs? Who knows, they might want to stay with Harapan. The reason is obvious. Going to Bersatu or PAS would make it worst for Umno to get back the Malay votes.

Stay with Harapan, and Harapan will help Umno get back the Malay votes. Have some principles, please. Do some thinking. It's not the end of the world if Zahid is not DPM. There are other BN leaders who are good, too, and without court cases.

Unspin: In the spirit of unity and stability, the optimum solution is to grant amnesty to all corrupt or suspected corrupt cases. The amnesty will benefit Zahid, Lim, Syed Saddiq, Sabah deputy chief minister Bung Moktar Radin, the police, and civil servants, among others.

The advantages of amnesty are multi-fold:

1) To prevent BN from going back to PN,

2) To focus on rebuilding our country instead of wasting time and resources prosecuting the cases,

3) To reform MACC because it can drop all existing cases and focus on doing things right, moving forward.

A successful case study of amnesty is Hong Kong. In the 1970s, their police force and civil servants were so corrupt that it was almost impossible to get things done if you did not grease the wheel if you will.

After they were granted amnesty, followed by strict enforcement by their Independent Commission Against Corruption(ICAC) thereafter, Hong Kong is now as clean as it can get.

Iron Man: To save the country, small sacrifices must be made. We can't change a corrupted government overnight and make a clean accountable civil servant system just because Anwar made a speech.

Baby steps need to be taken to achieve the ultimate objective. We have former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in jail. Does it make any difference if we put Zahid in jail but end up with a PAS government?

Harapan supporters and voters need to grow up. I see many very naive and think a corrupt-free government can be made in a night, they want everyone to go to jail.

They keep forgetting Harapan has only 82 seats and this is not a Harapan government. So, Harapan voters, if you truly want to save this country, you better grow up and learn some shades of grey for the greater good.

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