WHILE all Malaysians – who at one stage of their lives – have voted against the kleptocrats that are deeply embedded in the power structure built around the long tenure of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) since 1957 ought to be applauded for bringing down former prime minister (PM) Najib Razak and his influential wife Rosmah Mansor, there are more political bigwigs that must be brought to justice.
This includes the prospective verdict of some bigwigs in the coming months, but one must not forget that none of these efforts was easy. It was the people’s will in the 14th general election (GE14) that made this happen.
To begin with, the alliance between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim went south, months before the Sheraton Move.
The former was too adamant in staying on as PM, in turn, “refusing” to give way to Anwar, as the former had said and promised to the Malaysians in many of his public lectures and interviews.
Not forgetting the many Pakatan Harapan (PH) Presidential Council Meetings, especially when the transition agreement was signed on July 14, 2017. Although the period of 24 months tenure was not written specifically, it was agreed in that meeting it will be 24 months before the transition takes place.
Yet, for the sake of the nation's future, both political individuals decided to unclench their proverbial “fists" to transform into an all-round pact to unseat the then PM – Najib, who constantly parried away the accusations that he was the fount of various astronomical corruptions, including, although non confined to 1MDB.
Other opposition politicians such as Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Mohamad Sabu, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and many others all agreed to come on board.
Just as importantly, all the relevant stakeholders in civil society, be they in Hindraf, Tindak, Bersih, C4 etc, do concur with people’s disgust on endemic corruption, which has reached astronomical proportions.
While the judiciary has delivered fatal blows to the extent to which Najib and Rosmah can continue to wield their sway over the country, nothing is more defiant and resilient than a united opposition pact that can reclaim the mantle of government.
Thus, Malaysians’ prospective electoral behaviour in the 15th general election (GE15) should be based on strong values. The corruption that has been perpetuated by Umno or BN or any other bigwigs is wrong. Such corruption simply placed the country on the path of systemic and subsystemic corruption, where there is an inner “cartel” working in and across various agencies almost to no end.
These values must match and cross the 82.32% of the electoral turnout of May 9, 2018. In this context, these values must be matched with immense volumes that can cut across racial and religious divides once and for all.
The issues confronting Malaysia are not just the rise in the price of food, beverages, fuel, animal feed and fertilisers, but a smorgasbord of issues that are due to the cascade of problems from: the Covid-19 endemic, an education system that has triggered a potential loss of active and consistent academic training, and an ecology that has been transformed by climate change.
Between December 15 and 18, 2021, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor registered more than 2,500mm of rain. That amount of rain is equal to all the raindrops of the entire 2020 altogether.
Research by the National Auditing Department has also explained that between 2011 and 2020, there were a total of 48 flash floods in these two states.
Vote to restore rule of law
While the PH government was in power between May 11, 2011, and February 23, 2022, their tenure was too brief to put all the blame on them. Remember, it was indeed, a push and pull factor that ended their term – first triggered by the resignation of Mahathir from his PM post, and defections of Parliament members from PKR and Bersatu to form a new alliance, conveniently called Perikatan Nasional, which included Umno, BN, and PAS.
As the nation is looking at another potentially intensively fought GE15, all eligible voters in Malaysia must know how to register themselves, tally the address of their voting booths. and make sure there is no margin of error.
Every vote must count to restore the rule of law and to end the vested interest that has continued to wrap its hands around the federal government and the respective states.
However, before another historical breakthrough can be achieved, all politicians in PH must not assume that each and every party is entitled to a certain number of ministerial positions.
What Malaysians want to see is a comprehensive and complete national self-renewal based on the rule of law. Politicians must oblige themselves into entering the next general election devoid of their ego, and narcissistic and manic behaviour. They must place their interest above and well beyond that of the people from Kangar to Kota Kinabalu.
In other words, enter an ego-free zone for the sake of the people and the nation.
If they don’t, Umno and BN – knowing that their future collective survival counts on “enchanting and or buying” every gullible voter they can find – will garnish every electoral pledge with an empty promise and incentive with which they cannot and will not fulfil.
All Malaysians must rise above the parapet, especially now – granted that the judiciary has spoken loud and clear. Corruption of any domestic and foreign nature must not be allowed to take root in Malaysia.
Malaysians must not only register to vote but they must come out and submit their votes in the spirit of GE14 – once more to save this nation.
Remember, we do have anti-hopping laws now, and though they may not be perfect yet, they are sufficient obstacles for convenient horse-trading. – The Vibes, September 5, 2022
Rais Hussin is the CEO of EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on research
