YOURSAY | ‘I will tell Bersatu what the Malays want. They want the same things as all Malaysians…’

M'sians don't want to see another Umno, DAP tells Muhyiddin

Appum: In the present Malaysian context, DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke is perfectly right. We have had enough of a race-based ruling government and ‘tai kor’ (big brother) type of ruling party. We want a Malaysian government, not another Malay government.

So what if the majority of the population is Malay - if there is a fair government made up of capable, clean, efficient, responsible leaders, irrespective of race, religion or creed, why can't we have it?

Bersatu leaders Muhyiddin Yassin, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the rest must learn to shed their Umno mentality that only Malays must and can lead this country.

We want a model that works for everyone, be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans. If Bersatu still have the mentality of ‘Malay first, Malaysians second’, forget it.

Barisan Rakyat will have to be ‘Malaysian First, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban Second’. Substance and form must change together, and change in the way we want it.

Sarawakian: Loke, we are going to be ruled by ‘kleptocrats’ and ‘religious fanatics’ for the foreseeable future. If Dr M and Muhyiddin can help us get rid of them, I will gladly kiss their behinds, Malay first or not.

Based on your thinking, DAP and Harapan will never win GE14 and party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and perhaps yourself will be in jail after GE14.

The country would have crashed and I may emigrate. Even a return to the status quo of Mahathir's days, if he were to hijack Harapan’s agenda, would be infinitely better than the government of today.

Rome wasn't built in one day. Muhyiddin was only proposing how to get the all-important Malay vote and beat Umno and PAS at that game.

So DAP, just shut up and ride on their coattails, there is no way Bersatu with their greatly reduced number of seats compared with Umno to dominate if Harapan were to win GE14.

DAP will be the big winner after GE14, but if you keep talking like this, it will never materialise.

Proarte: Politicians should never presume to speak on behalf of a race or religion. Let the people decide which party they want to elect.

In fact, there must be a stipulation that all parties forming Barisan Rakyat must not be racist and admit all Malaysians as equal members. No party such as Bersatu can be part of the coalition if they offer second-class membership to Chinese and Indians whereby they cannot hold elected office.

This is the problem when you have a party which is race-based being admitted into the Pakatan Harapan fold. Malaysians are fed up of self-serving politicians like Muhyiddin who was chucked out of Umno and is now trying to infect Pakatan Harapan with Umno supremacist politics.

I will tell Bersatu what the Malays want. They want the same things as all Malaysians - that is financial, economic and societal stability. Malaysians are not at loggerheads with one another. It is political parties which are vying for power and the spoils of office which are fighting one another.

The lowest common denominator is race and religion and that is what Muhyiddin, the 'Malay first' politician, is playing with.

Kingfisher: Loke is admittedly a passionate man with noble ideals and aspirations. But he seems to ignore certain ground-level realities and structures imposed by historical events and the failures/successes of natives and immigrant communities spreading over some 50 years to institute a decent and fair form of governance for all citizens.

Righteous passion for a just society for the future is not to present an ultimatum from a position of strength or weakness as the case may be, but to acknowledge the negotiating and threshold limits of all the parties to a covenant. Negotiate rationally and come to a consensus.

It is foolhardy to challenge healthy negotiations with a preconceived threshold limits especially when circumstances seem opportune now to remove the prevailing insidiousness in governance as alleged.

Considering circumstances now, one should have faith and hope that Barisan Rakyat can translate the will of the people and provide socio-economic security.

Ronald: Following what Muhyiddin said, if I were the DAP or PKR or Amanah, I'd nip it in the bud right now. Either Bersatu agree to the equal partnership principle now or completely forget about joining Pakatan Harapan.

Muhyiddin should not impose conditions. Bersatu is a 'Johnny come lately' entity and ought to respect Harapan and previously Pakatan Rakyat, which has achieved excellent results in the past two general elections.

And please do not start off by saying everything must be Malay-led. I am not against it but look where it has led the country to? In any case, the non-Malays in this country know where they stand and have always been supportive, but, please, don't take us for granted.

Anonymous #37634848: Pakatan Harapan is yearning to win over the rural votes but it cannot carve out proper strategies. The kind of talk Loke is churning out should have been discussed prior to admitting Bersatu into the opposition and behind closed doors. This reflects immaturity in politics.

Anonymous_3e06: Harapan must be cautious with such statements coming from Muhyiddin. His former party is the only party he knows.

He also knows that party’s empty promises that the non-Malays will be safeguarded, their cultures, their rights, their religions, their families. But look at what’s happening? Empty vessels.

Rick Teo: Frankly, I don’t care who leads as long as the leader is capable. For 50 years, we have been led by a Malay-based party and it has brought us to a failed state.

If a non-Malay is capable, let him lead. As former Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping said, “I don’t care whether the cat is black or white as long as it catches the mice.”

Mahsuri: Malaysians also do not want to see another cock-up in the form of the alliance formerly known as Pakatan Rakyat ala GE13, with its ‘sekejap ada sekejap tak ada’ PAS, infighting within PKR itself leading to the Kajang episode which benefited only Azmin Ali, and with PKR and DAP preaching meritocracy but seemingly actively practicing nepotism.

Any wonder why informed voters who hate BN still hesitate sometimes whether to vote opposition or just abstain completely? There is too much baggage associated with the Pakatan Harapan brand, so a new name isn't too stupid an idea, it signals a fresh start.

However, I am less bothered what the opposition alliance is named. I am most concerned with what they actually will stand for beyond just complaining about how bad Umno-BN is.

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