KUALA LUMPUR – While it is heartening to see the announcement of the Malaysia Madani agenda, the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) said, the watchdog believes many citizens fear it could end up being yet another empty slogan.
In a statement, Bersih questioned if the vision championed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will finally address some of the longstanding issues that have plagued Malaysian politics over the years.
Among the concerns it noted include whether the Malaysia Madani concept can prevent political coups from repeating, charges against corrupt politicians from being dropped, opposition MPs from playing up ethno-religious sentiments, and voters from feeling election fatigue.
Bersih also raised the questions of MPs in opposition states being denied equal access to funds, businesses’ control on political parties that depend on private funding, and vote buying by political entities in the name of charity.
Today's statement comes in light of Anwar’s recent announcement of his national vision using the Malaysia Madani slogan.
“Madani” is the Malay version of the “Script” acronym, which stands for sustainability, compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust.
Many have since taken to social media to question the necessity of yet another government tagline.
Previous administrations have seen the introduction of slogans like Keluarga Malaysia (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob), Malaysia Prihatin (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), Malaysia Baharu (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad), 1Malaysia (Datuk Seri Najib Razak), and Islam Hadhari (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi).
While expressing its concerns, Bersih said it is not all pessimistic about the slogan, which can achieve its full potential to transform Malaysia if two conditions are met.
The first is respect and trust between political parties, and the second is ensuring innovation prevails over resistance in institutional reforms – respect, trust, and innovation being three of the values under Malaysia Madani.
Bersih said the other three values – sustainability, prosperity, and compassion – can be achieved by ensuring true political stability and accountability, which in turn will build business confidence and ensure the country catches up in its post-Covid-19 recovery. – The Vibes, January 23, 2023
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