DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has urged Malaysians to break the current political lull, or the country would descend to become a failed and rogue state.

Lim, who is also Gelang Patah MP, warned the greatest challenge facing the country now is how to get it out of the present political dead end.

This is so if Malaysia wants to break the trajectory towards a failed state as a result of rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices, collapse of governance, unbridled racial extremism, religious intolerance and bigotry and a rogue state because of violations of democracy, rule of law, free speech and egalitarianism.

Lim said if Malaysians – be they political parties or individuals – are selfish and think of their own interests, then they should just wait until the 14th general election.

“But this will not be in the best interests of the nation, for Malaysia would have descended further in the next two years down the slope towards a failed and a rogue state,” the veteran opposition leader said.

“However, the country seems to be in a cul de sac, both for those in the corridors of power and outside. This is despite one scandal after another catapulting Malaysia into the stratosphere of being the third on the 'worst corruption scandal (list) in 2015”, falling four places in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015.

Lim also said the 1MDB case is the subject of investigations by seven different nations.

He claimed this caused Najib to come under the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) lens as to whether he is a “kleptocrat”.

Need for realignment

Lim said that despite the plunging ringgit, increase in the brain drain and the worst racial and religious polarisation, Najib seemed to have become even stronger politically with crackdowns on democratic freedoms and human rights, such as the recent action against news portal The Malaysian Insider .

“Najib's image and credibility have never been so low for a Malaysian prime minister, whether nationally or internationally,” he said.

Lim said that since the past year, he had been advocating a 'Save Malaysia' campaign transcending race, religion, region, politics and individuals to stop the nation’s trajectory towards a failed and rogue state.

“Even former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad seemed to have come around to the view that the best way is for the country to have two political parties as this would ensure that one or the other would win a majority to form the government.

“Is the country ready for a realignment of progressive and patriotic political forces to save Malaysia and to keep faith with the vision of an united, inclusive, moderate, democratic and prosperous Malaysia?” he asked.

The coming weeks, he added, would give an answer to this question.