LETTER | Yes, Pakatan Harapan has won so let’s move on to make Malaysia a better place for our children. That is all we want from Harapan.

Apparently, Harapan got votes from a wide spectrum of people across Malaysia.

First, we have to give credit to Bersatu for tilting the states like Johor, Seremban, Malacca and Kedah towards Harapan. The credit for the near clean sweep in Penang and Selangor should go to all four, Amanah, DAP, Bersatu and PKR.

Bersatu was able to penetrate into the difficult right-wing terrain of the four states that brought an end to Umno’s domination.

All leaders from Harapan should realise that it was the summation of the support from the left, middle and the right that got Harapan through. Please don’t forget this.

The fact that Dr Mahathir Mohamad being slotted as the seventh PM was an advantage to Harapan. Plus his ability to galvanise Harapan into a single strong cohesive force by bringing all the opposition parties and NGOs to contest under one banner should be the most important factor for us to ponder and appreciate.

The 1MDB, Felda and GST are the three most important issues that eventually fell BN, but it was Mahathir who went to the ground to made these issues easy for the voters in the kampung and Felda to understand.

This while Najib Abdul Razak and his clique spoke from far away through TV3, TV2, TV1, Utusan Malaysia, Star, New Straits Times, Astro, Berita Harian and other media.

Words like “pencuri duit rakyat, Najib/Rosmah kaya/curi duit and dedak,” simple as they were, they resonated with the rural voters. Had Mahathir spoken like Arul Kanda, the rural voters would not have voted Harapan.

Politicians should stop harping on who should receive the loudest clap for the Harapan victory.

Please grow up and work for the people who had voted for you and also for those who did not.

If credit is to be apportioned between leaders, I would definitely give Mahathir a large portion and again not be forgetting Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and others for their immense sacrifices that brought their parties to the final leg of victory.

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