I ALWAYS believe that in politics, one needs to have foresight in order to go far, and at times, one has to pay a heavy price for standing firm by his own foresight, beliefs and principles.
On Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent statement that he was “only using DAP to topple Najib”, I feel vindicated by his statement.
In 2018, I objected to the way that DAP and Pakatan Harapan (PH) allowed Mahathir and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to dominate the PH leadership, especially in Johor, for the reason that we had contrasting ideologies and differed greatly in the way of governance.
More importantly, we could never expect the classical figures of the ailing system and powers-that-be becoming the reformists. Allowing them to manipulate the PH government has been proven to be self-damaging to DAP and PH reform agendas.
In order to reaffirm my stands, I even refused to attend a DAP dinner held in Skudai when Mahathir attended.
Even though I respected him as a senior politician and medical colleague, we always have had opposite political stands and ideologies and differed in ways as to how Malaysia should go forward.
Nonetheless, standing together with him on the same political stage then, would have sent the wrong political message that I endorsed and condoned whatever he had done.
I was even labelled as “kurang ajar” (insolent) by certain quarters for refusing to stand on the same stage with Mahathir.
My judgement was proven precise without doubt. PH was instead severely undermined after the 2018 victory.
On the contrary, I was actually sidelined in the 2018 and 2022 general elections by my own beloved party DAP for stating my honest views against the form of cooperation with Mahathir and Muhyiddin, which was proven to be self-damaging later on.
During the negotiations with DAP’s top leadership, I was asked to contest the Labis parliamentary seat as a means to exclude me from the upcoming Johor state PH leadership which I thought was a dangerous tactic.
My stand was stated clearly to three top leaders in the process of negotiation that I refused to contest in Labis as it was a means to divert the attention from my stand that we should not let Muhyiddin manipulate Johor Pakatan Harapan.
My warning has been proven to be tactically precise as to the fact that Johor had always been a key state, and we (PH) had to consolidate Johor in order to stay put in Putrajaya.
When the PH government fell in 2020 after the “Sheraton Coup”, Johor was the first state to go, and once again, it already proved my judgement and earlier warning was precise and with no holds barred.
Denial, naiveness, poor judgement
Ironically, in the 2018 general election, all Johor Pakatan Harapan and DAP candidates had to receive their candidate appointment letters from Muhyiddin himself at his house in Pagoh.
This political gesture had forfeited all Pakatan Harapan’s previous efforts, and surrendered its credits as a reformist bloc by inviting Trojan horses into their own fortress, while faithful party leaders and members like myself were either sidelined or ostracised.
The Sheraton Move did not come as my surprise considering all the foresighted warnings were being given to the top leadership. It was sheer denial, naiveness and poor judgement on many of our own leaders.
Some even participated in the conspiracy to topple Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as PH’s candidate for prime ministership after the Sheraton coup.
The end results of these poor judgment and wavering political stands are as follows:
The reforms that are much needed by Malaysia are being delayed for at least 10 to 15 years due to PH’s own weakened positions after the Sheraton coup;
Some PH leaders’ self-destructive moves to undermine PKR and Anwar had weakened PH’s chances of winning more seats that could have been much closer to a simple majority in the Parliament at the last general election;
Many PH’s component parties’ cadres were conditioned to believe that Anwar would never be able to become the prime minister. These opportunists have undermined further PH’s chances to have a stronger government.
Even up to the 2022 general election, I was still being ostracised for giving my open and unwavering support to Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership for more substantive reforms.
I had made my stand clear that we should never have abandoned our comrades-in-arms for more than two decades – that is, Anwar and PKR as the longest and only surviving Malay-majority multicultural party in the country’s history.
For all the statements and announcements from Tun Mahathir and those who turned their back and condemned him, I am glad that I have been vindicated for the fact that my decisions and judgement all the while are proven manifestly unwavering, precise, honest in the best interests of the party, Pakatan Harapan, the country and the people. – The Vibes, November 19, 2023
Dr Boo Cheng Hau is a former Johor DAP chairman and a former Johor assemblyman
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