KUALA LUMPUR – The attitude of politicians who turn themselves into “commodities” has put the country in a very awkward and unprecedented political situation, said Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
He said that these politicians were also no longer loyal to the party and their voters.
“They trade themselves as if they are political commodities”, so this is the situation we are facing now.
“The most unfortunate thing is that Malaysia’s political morale is weakened in terms of values and principles,” he said during the Terus Terang Bersama Tok Mat talk show programme broadcast online on Umno’s Facebook page last night.
He said this when commenting on the country’s political crisis of late, which has resulted in Malaysia having three prime ministers in three years.
Mohamad said political parties opening the door for party-hopping politicians had made the situation worse and, in fact, these “traitors” were being hailed by some.
He said their actions have caused the government to lose the political balance that it used to have after independence.
Instead, the country, he said, had entered a phase where there is no dominant party and the political strength of the Malays is at its lowest in the history of the country.
Mohamad said that if the situation prolonged, the country would never achieve the political stability and well-being it used to have previously.
“This is very dangerous because the country won’t be managed well or governed peacefully. If the country is well-managed, the people will benefit from it and can feel the political peace and economic health in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohamad said Umno needed to differentiate between government and political parties because they are two different entities.
“A political party does not control the government any more. Of the parties established by the government, Umno now has only 42 seats. So, this is not a 100% Umno government, but whether Umno likes it or not, it must support the government of the day because the government today is still led by the Umno vice-president (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob),” he said.
He said the current government was set up to manage the country and take over from the government that was said to have failed.
“Pakatan Harapan failed. Perikatan Nasional also failed, so this government must strive to manage the country. It is better for the government to have a political ceasefire across all parties so that the government will not be undermined,” he said. – Bernama, October 5, 2021
