GEORGE TOWN – An Amanah leader has chided new political parties and their leaders who chose to field candidates in the recent Johor election, telling them to reflect on having gone at it alone only to encounter abysmal failure.
Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who is the party’s vice-president and Perak leader, said the newcomers as well as independents who were unsuccessful in the polls need to ask themselves whether it was worthwhile fighting the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions.
As opposition outfits, they must ask themselves if they share the same political objectives of PH in bringing back progress to the nation, he said.
The Parit Buntar MP specifically directed his questions at Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He asked if the three can fathom the logic behind the need to close ranks instead of dwelling on their personal vengeance against PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the chairman of PH.
Are they obsessed with vengeance until it has become part of their political struggle?” asked Mujahid, a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who was in charge of Islamic affairs from May 2018 to February 2020.
Of lost deposits and abysmal defeat
In the election last Saturday, Warisan and Pejuang failed to garner a single seat, and even lost all their deposits.
Warisan was defeated in the six constituencies it contested in the Sabah-based party’s first foray in the peninsula.
Pejuang’s loss was heavier, as all its 42 candidates failed to obtain the minimum number of votes and had their deposits amounting to RM210,000 forfeited.
Bersatu won only two constituencies – Bukit Kepong and Endau – under the banner of Perikatan Nasional (PN). Its PN partner, PAS, won only the Maharani seat for the alliance.
Fledgling party Muda won one seat, Puteri Wangsa, in its maiden electoral outing. The constituency was captured by its secretary-general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz, who is 27.
The other new parties – PBM and Putra – failed to win any seat, losing their deposits. None of the independents made any inroads either.
PH won 12 seats, while BN defended its grip on the state government by winning 40 of the 56 state assembly seats up for grabs.
Pakatan will only become ‘lame duck’ in GE15 if change doesn’t come
Mujahid also took the PH presidential council to task, questioning its role and strategy.
He pointed out that the opposition coalition has sustained three consecutive huge losses in the Sarawak, Melaka, and Johor elections.
PH parties had also encountered heavy losses in the Sabah election in September 2020.
He said the defeats may suggest that voters have lost faith in the parliamentary democracy system, with PH seemingly failing in the fight against corruption and saving the country from infamy.
This may lead to ambitions among some quarters to ignore the formation of a government driven by integrity and stability by opting for deceit and corruption instead,” he said.
He stressed that if PH does not change, it will become a lame duck in the 15th general election.
Toss your egos aside and properly unite
Considering the huge challenges facing the country, Mujahid asked if the leadership of PH and the other parties will learn from the mistakes of the past to close ranks ahead of the next election.
“Can our leaders discard their egos and think about restoring democracy and real growth?” he said.
If there is no firm response from the top leadership, then PH has lost the war before it can begin to fight it, said Mujahid.
He added that PH, in fact, may have helped BN in the Johor polls when its components were unable to agree on the use of a common logo.
PKR had decided to use its own party logo, reasoning that PH’s logo was still not entrenched among voters.
He also said that it is debatable whether the low voter turnout caused the downfall of PH in the state.
A 54.92% voter turnout was recorded by the Election Commission. Of the 2.6 million registered voters, only 1.4 million took part, while BN’s share of the popular vote was 43%.
To this, Mujahid said the odds could have been different if PH and the other non-BN parties had joined forces for the election.
The concept of ‘I can do it alone’ or ‘It’s my way or no way’ has led to the downfall of PH,” he said.
“Firstly, we need to go back to the basics of using a common PH logo. We need a strong, united front to oppose the narrative of condoning corruption, allowing it to fester by using racialism and rejecting democracy. This is the start of our struggle,” he said.
Secondly, PH must explain to the people that there is an antidote to the allure of corruption, racialism, and undemocratic practices, Mujahid stressed.
The opposition must thus use the principles of integrity and unity to fight such evils, he said. – The Vibes, March 16, 2022
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