He has embraced in bliss the very parties whom he blamed for the country’s economic woes, 1MDB and the like only two years ago, write K Veeriah.
The incoherent concept that whoever commands the support of the majority of members of Parliament to claim the right to the nation’s premiership, runs contrary to the ideals of a democratically elected government.
In a functioning democracy the will of the electorate must reign supreme.
In the last general election the citizens of the country decided that they had enough of a corrupted and kleptocratic Barisan National government. We, the people of the nation, voted in the Pakatan Harapan government.The hope and dream of the citizens was that there would a transformation of the socioeconomic and race-centric landscape of the country. And we mandated the Pakatan Harapan government to do that.
Beyond the influence of the ordinary citizens, a bunch of 222 individuals or part thereof – ostensibly, representing the hopes and dreams of the millions of voters – seem to have taken it upon themselves to plot their own grand plan to unscrupulously seek political dominance – regardless of the fact that they are beholden to the people who voted them to office.
As the game plan unfolded we stood witness to acts of betrayal, treachery and unprincipled political gameplay, all in an unholy quest underpinned by political expediency.
Backed by the very political rogues that the people of the nation booted out in the last general elections we now have the eight Prime Minister – the “honourable” Muhyiddin Yassin.
Sadly, Muhyiddin seems to be enslaved with “elective amnesia” as he was in the forefront relentlessly attacking Umno, Barisan National and Pas during the 2018 general election. The record will show that he had slammed Umno, Pas and the Barisan National with all kinds of accusations in the run-up to the last general election.
Hardly two years later, he has embraced, in bliss, the very parties whom he blamed for the country’s economic woes, 1MDB and the like.
Does Muhyiddin therefore have the moral dignity to helm the nation? To now ride on the very back of such nefarious political bedfellows just for political glory would be akin to “running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds”.
In the overall scheme of events, Muhyiddin has no right to claim that his elevation to the office of Prime Minister is on account of the desire of the people. On the contrary he would be remembered in history as the only prime minister who ascended to that august office under dubious circumstances.
Whether right or wrong, the option in the circumstances would be to discard the numbers game and to seek the people’s mandate as to who ought to be leading the nation.
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And the honourable option for Muhyiddin would be is to relinquish his premiership, dissolve Parliament and allow the people to elect a government of their choice.
2 March 2020
K Veeriah is a veteran trade unionist based in Penang
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
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