YOURSAY | ‘I salute Liu for speaking out for the voters who voted for Harapan...’

Hearty Malaysian: In a real democracy, the prime minister does not enjoy immunity to criticism and deserves the ticking offs for underperformance or misbehaviour.

The prime minister is not the king but the servant to the people. Feudalistic society breeds blind followers, absolute corruption and injustices.

It is time for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to step to down as he continues to make mistakes both domestically and internationally in his role as prime minister.

Anonymous b3cdcd05: Even without DAP leader Ronnie Liu's lengthy explanation, his comments about the ‘paper tiger' was justified.

Mahathir had every right to rebut or at least defend himself against the Sungai Pelek assemblyperson’s comments but he failed to do so.

This is what democracy is all about and sore losers have the avenue to defend themselves if the criticism is unjustified.

The central issue is now narrowed down to whether respective party officials in the ruling coalition are within their rights to criticise other component party officials.

It takes two to play the game.

Since the Bersatu chairman Mahathir deems it fit to defend the Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu over the latter's claim that he was waging a lone battle against DAP, why shouldn't DAP defend Liu for a similar “offence”?

Shovelnose: Mahathir is only a politician with an advantage over many other leaders because of the support from other parties to lead the nation.

If the prime minister is not performing, involved in wrongdoing or is making decisions to favour only certain segments of the public and to the disadvantage of others, he deserves to be reprimanded.

Kee Thuan Chye: It's good to see the DAP stand up to pressure against the party from one of its supposed allies. Perhaps it's time to act against the real enemy instead of a loyalist in its own ranks.

Once support for the enemy is withdrawn, the latter's influence will be gradually eroded. Eventually, the enemy might back down.

Kangkung: Bersatu said there would be no action against the Perak MB, so DAP followed suit by not taking action against Liu.

It's a matter of time before the two parties will get into an all-out war.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mahathir leads Bersatu out of the Harapan coalition in the near future to team up with Umno and PAS.

Proarte: Please remember that Liu had in the past been put in cold storage by his party because of corruption allegations.

So, he too is not squeaky clean. There is no reason why he will not turn timid like the current DAP ministers if he is given a cabinet position in the future.

I believe Liu is the DAP’s appointed “mouthpiece” to let Mahathir know that the party leaders are not happy with the prime minister and the direction he is taking the country to.

The relevant question is why is the DAP ruling elite playing ball with Mahathir? What hold does he have over them?

To certain sections of the public, their perception is that DAP has become a “cari makan” party, happy with the perks of high office and seemingly having ditched their espoused principles.

Clever Voter: If DAP is no longer willing to stand up and question the wrongdoings within the Harapan coalition, then the party sooner or later becomes an MCA 2.0.

Plenty of GE14 promises have yet to be delivered and the senior leaders seem clueless when it comes to important matters.

Grassroots support is necessary to ensure any change. Liu can become a rebel with a cause within the party.

Anonymous 1537050742: I salute Liu for speaking out for the voters who voted for Harapan in GE14. DAP leaders should draw a lesson from this episode.

Instead of coming out strongly to defend its members when the truth is spoken, they should not be too quick to condemn them too quickly as well.

Just take a look at how Mahathir defended the Perak MB strongly until the MB becomes emboldened to tell off DAP. DAP is in danger of turning itself into another subservient MCA.

Steven Ong: Harapan must not repeat the same mistake made by BN leaders in the previous government. BN members from various component parties gave blind support to their leaders when they were in power.

Almost all of the BN politicians did not voice out even when it was clear there were rampant wrongdoings and corruption in their midst.

It led to BN losing in the GE14 last year, and several of their present and former leaders, including the ex-prime minister, facing corruption and abuse of power charges in court.

Even now, many BN leaders and supporters are still blindly following their bosses, as seen recently during the Tanjung Piai by-election campaign.

We should not only be brave and honest to speak the truth but also be humble to accept criticism so that all may live in peace and prosperity.

If we allow lies, injustice, racism, discrimination, hatred and anger to prosper in Malaysia, then the hard-earned unity and wellbeing of the nation will be seriously jeopardised.

Rupert16: It is exactly because of politicians like Umno supreme council member Mohd Razlan Rafii Razlan, who feels it is not right to point out or criticise your allies’ shortcomings or wrongdoings, that BN lost GE14.

The Malaysian political culture of keeping quiet even when knowing that one’s superiors have veered off the proper route must be eradicated.

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