LETTER | The public quibbling and squabbling about the Penang exco line-up is most disappointing, showing a deep lack of team spirit within the Pakatan Harapan coalition. Did the voters cast their vote and support for you to quarrel about power and position among yourselves?

You could not have won on your own without Malaysians rising up to throw out a corrupt regime. Thousands of voters lined up for hours to cast their votes. Some even died.

Many more thousands came from all over to ensure that there would be a new dawn for Malaysia. These Malaysians wanted a change for the better, a new spring after the winter of discontent. They wanted a government that would be caring and compassionate and that would truly serve the nation and look after the needy.

In spite of Penang being under the opposition for 10 years, there is much to be done in the areas of housing, flood mitigation, transport, jobs, etc. but Dr Norlela Ariffin (above) the state assemblyperson for Penanti seems to be more concerned about sharing the spoils of victory, ignoring the team spirit required for the tasks ahead.

It is just one week after the historic victory but the priority concern of Norlela is centred around position and representation in the executive council of the Penang state government.

Instead of appeasing Norlela and pointing out the path of service before her, the chairperson of Penang PKR Mansor Othman said Norlela’s concern was right and he agreed with her 100 percent.

“I fully support what Norlela raised. We also want more members in the line-up as we also contributed to Harapan’s victory in the state ...”

Let’s get the facts straight. PKR did not contribute “to Harapan’s victory in the state” as he had naively claimed. It was the Penang voters who contributed to Harapan’s victory. It is not the other way around. Don’t belittle or ignore the fantastic achievement of the voters to realise this dream. They sacrificed their time, money and effort to back the entire team and bring about this glorious moment in our history.

Surely there are pressing issues that deserve to be attended to as a matter of priority. Norlela and Mansor should be identifying these issues and assuring the public that this will be attended to in serving Penangites effectively.

Voters have empowered themselves and they will frown upon those who got elected but seem more interested in power and position. These representatives should not take for granted that they would be automatically returned in GE15.

They should hold high the banner of the victorious team, not undermine its collective position. Vociferously quarrelling publicly among those in Harapan will not be tolerated. Show maturity and take your grievances to the Harapan presidential council and sort out your problems quietly behind closed doors.

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