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If Harapan loses, it is not for lack of trying

LETTER | Pakatan Harapan won’t win, full stop the article read so God help us all if the writer is right. Crystal-ball gazers have been wrong with their predictions in recent times and hopefully, the writer will be included among them. And more so with one cocksure on raw opinion than on any hard empirical evidence.

Pakatan Harapan has already won the moral high ground. They have publicly promoted an anti-corruption, anti-racism, and anti-bad governance position. They promise a royal commission into the financial scandals including 1MDB.

The challenge now is for them to win the political prize of power in Putrajaya. Against unthinkable odds, they won the hearts and minds of the majority of Malaysians in GE13. They can do it again. They are still winning more hearts and minds with each passing day. It is no mystery the opposition and the majority of Malaysian are on the same page against corruption, and rightly so. When you support the people, the people will support you.

Never in the history of the nation have so few caused so much trouble for so many and brought shame on the nation by their brazen dishonesty. The result is an enraged nation and united against corruption. If Najib Abdul Razak can lay claim to an achievement while a leader, it is in making Malaysians united against corruption in governance. The unwitting "Bugis warrior" will have many fights to face whether he wins or lose. It is an unenviable position to be in.

The writer’s comments risk being treated as banal, morose and atypical of one given to over-simplifying and over-generalising and quick to condemn. That’s the problem, as an indigenous American would decry of someone not having "walked in the moccasins of another". Only those in politics know the difficulties, not anyone else. Still, the opposition can only be more resolute in getting their act together. That anyone is in opposition politics, including dissenting citizens, is a credit to those who dare oppose and seek change.

Anyone who can’t see the progress in the opposition must be blind, prejudiced, skewed or an opponent. Anyone can diagnose but who could have achieved the unity in the opposition but for Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim putting aside personal passions and putting the nation first in such a short time.

Armchair critics, analysts, outsiders and the like may not have firsthand experience of the tough world of opposition politics. Their text-book suggestions won’t work against the toughened glass of realpolitik and flawed human nature and the formidable political foe. One only needs to observe what the opposition politicians are up against both within and without. It is not a challenge for the faint-hearted who must face the uncertainty of dirty politics, threats and harassment and unfair imprisonments. Opposition politics in Malaysia is tough and no government can be a good government which has not been in the opposition.

The writer’s comments that ‘Najib’s 1MDB money-laundering public money Ponzi scam is a free kick to Harapan. Yet nobody’s stepping up to shoot the penalty’ sounds like fake news. Unless he thinks Lim Kit Siang, Tony Pua, Ramli Rafizi and Anwar Ibrahim, to name a few among many others, who have exposed or criticised the 1MDB fiasco for some years now are deemed "nobody". Ramli Rafizi certainly isn’t going to jail for concealing the sins of 1MDB.

If there is a silver lining in the writer’s acerbic clouds of doom it is the kick in the groin for the opposition to stop bickering among themselves. His criticisms remind the country’s opposition that they must spare no effort in uniting behind the leadership of Mahathir. For a 93-year old to do what he is doing Mahathir has won the respect of many who once were critical of him.

“Give up your small ambitions”, is sound advice to Harapan politicians who should focus on winning the major prize of government and helping one another. The opposition’s opponent has the upper-hand and how do you win the game when the umpire fouls you unfairly? The writer, however, offered no solution. But he is right however in damning those who create disunity at crucial times.

If Harapan loses it is not for lack of trying. Politicians will be politicians anywhere but there is a new phenomenon in opposition politics not seen before and unique to Malaysia. It is the rise of ordinary citizens who entered politics out of conviction and not for personal gains or wild ambition. That conviction is to see better governance, the restoration of the integrity of public institutions and the curbing of corruption. The freshies have learned fast.

I believe we have to look beyond GE14 and appreciate the line up of young talent in Harapan to realise they provide the leadership of the present and future. In contrast, those who offer the old school politics of authoritarianism, collusion, subterfuge, intimidation and money politics belong in the political mass graveyard of villains. Unprincipled politicians who betrayed their nation and stole like Judas will be buried with their ignominy. You reap what you sow. No if’s or but’s.

Good governance is possible only with good leaders and to Harapan’s credit they have an impressive line-up of leaders across the board from the very young to the very old. The cross-section of profiles from race to religion, from qualifications to talents, from ideas to practice, is highly impressive. Nurul Izzah, Hannah Yeoh, Tony Pua, Ramli Rafizi, Tian Chua, among many more un-named talents, and add to that Mahathir, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Azmin Ali, they are the equivalent of the ‘Avengers’ fighting for a better world without the superpowers. They only need the power to govern.

And it is up to voters to give them that crucial power.

They now want Malaysia to be a corruption-free zone and reject corrupt politicians whoever they are. They are no longer beholden to their past voting. They want to see change whatever the threats. They want to see white-collar criminals not political prisoners behind bars.

Not everyone is afraid of the intimidation. There will always be the dissident activist, the concerned cartoonist, the ‘pissed-off’ rapper, the articulate surgeon and columnist in foreign lands and others who will raise public criticisms of the kleptocrats whose end must be nigh. Courage is not feeling unafraid but acting despite the fear. Elections are lost not because of the politicians but the people who are always afraid.

It is common knowledge the opposition is far from perfect but they can govern. Their successful track record in Penang and Selangor provide ample proof. No one should be inordinately downbeat Harapan’s prospects in GE14 and blame the politicians. It is a skewed view. It is simplistic. It is unhelpfully daunting and offers a lose-lose proposition. Writing off Harapan is premature, presumptuous and preposterous.

The fact is elections are won or lost not only because of the politicians but the voters. Every regime change happens because the voters were able to realise that until they change their voting habits and exact accountability from the politicians their votes will be taken for granted as “fixed deposits”. But there are positive signs of change. It is a matter of time before any bad government gets the boot from the voters and “Ini kali-lah” is the hope of those who love their country.

The games have begun. BN has six gold medals. But it is the final tally that counts. When all is said and done may Malaysia see a new government devoid of the evil we have seen.


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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