COMMENT | The 11-day campaign period before the 14th general election is coming to an end tomorrow, at midnight on May 8.

The fate of the nation and the future generation of Malaysians are literally in your hands when you cast your vote on Wednesday, May 9.

Apart from those in Sarawak, you will be voting who for your state assemblyperson and MP.

But even more important, and for the first time in Malaysian history for 61 years, you will be voting who will be the prime minister and who will form the new federal government in Putrajaya.

You will in fact be voting for the next two prime ministers of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim if Pakatan Harapan forms the new federal government. This is as the Harapan presidential council has announced that Mahathir will be the seventh and Anwar the eighth prime minister of Malaysia.

On the eve of the historic 14th general election, I ask the 15 million Malaysian voters to save Malaysia and our future generations, and not to save Najib and Umno/BN.

Najib has betrayed both the Malays and Malaysians because he has turned the country  into a rogue democracy, forgetting his promise in September 2011 to make Malaysia the one of the best democracies in the world.

And even worse, he has turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal, described by the US Attorney-General as 'kleptocracy at its worst'.

May 9, is a ‘now or never, do or die’ moment for Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or party affiliation to set Malaysia free from corruption, abuses of power, injustices and exploitation and to reach for the ‘Malaysian dream’ – citizens for a united, harmonious, progressive, prosperous nation which is a model to the world of how a multiracial, multilingual, multireligious and multicultural people can succeed in turning differences and diversities into an unique national strength.

The three main issues in GE14 are: 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy; economic hardships of the people of Malaysia, in particular the GST; and a battery of undemocratic laws and measures, especially the Anti-Fake News Act and the worst gerrymandering in the nation’s history with the Election Commission’s latest redelineation of electoral constituencies.

There have been systematic attempts by the Umno/BN leaders, propagandists and ‘quinoa cybertroopers’ to censor these three issues to prevent them from surfacing publicly in GE14, by resorting to the politics of race, hatred and fear to create baseless fears, as well as to incite unfounded hatred among Malaysians against Pakatan Harapan and DAP leaders.

If the first and the third prime ministers of Malaysia were still alive today, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Hussein Onn would be standing on the Harapan stage to save Malaysia from becoming a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

I had worked with both of them after they had relinquished the premiership for a Malaysia where there is democracy, rule of law and good governance.

Now we not only have Mahathir leading the Harapan campaign for political change, we have former Umno stalwarts like Daim Zainuddin, Rafidah Aziz and Rais Yatim.

We have in the ranks of Harapan today one former prime minister, two former deputy prime ministers, Anwar Ibrahim and Muhyiddin Yassin; three former Finance ministers, Daim, Anwar and Mahathir himself, and the former minister for international trade and industry for 21 years, Rafidah Aziz – patriotic men and women of experience, ability and commitment to ensure Malaysia can rise again as a respected and esteemed member of the international community.

Najib and Umno leaders are trying to scare the Malays into continuing to give it support in GE14, warning that the Malays will perish if Umno is defeated. Najib and the Umno leaders are wrong.

Malays will not perish if Umno is defeated in GE14 – only Najib and the Umno leaders will perish, if they are incapable of making use of the opportunity of a spell in the ranks of the opposition to reform and make themselves relevant again to the Malays and Malaysians!

I have three questions for Najib.

• Firstly, whether he would accept the results of the 14th general election on May 9, if Harapan commands more than 112 seats, which is over half of the total of 222 parliamentary seats, as would happen in other developed democracies. The Sin Chew Daily today carried a forecast by Umno veterans that Harapan would win 127 parliamentary seats – a clear and categorical margin of victory for Harapan to form the new government in Putrajaya.
• Secondly, whether he would stay in Malaysia and would not flee abroad if Umno/BN is defeated by Harapan in GE14;
• Thirdly, whether win or lose, he would remain in the country and would not go abroad, to face all consequences, including the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 1MDB scandal and his role resulting in Malaysia being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Will Najib answer these three questions before the close of voting?

LIM KIT SIANG is DAP parliamentary candidate for Iskandar Puteri.

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