We're still backing Anwar but can wait 6 months - DAP and Amanah

We wish to thank PKR for announcing that they have rejected the second option of nominating Dr Mahathir Mohamad for prime minister and Anwar Ibrahim for deputy prime minister, with Mahathir handing over power to Anwar after six (6) months. 

This follows Warisan and Mahathir rejecting the first option of Anwar as prime minister and Mukhriz Mahathir as deputy prime minister. Both options were proposed during the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting on May 30, 2020.

We have been consistently supporting Anwar as the prime minister since 1998 and will continue to do so. Based on the current political scenario, the only realistic option of success is to combine the strength of all five parties of PKR, Amanah and DAP in Harapan as well as Warisan and Mahathir’s Bersatu.

This political journey has taken 22 years, we can afford to wait another six months to see Anwar installed as the 10th prime minister of Malaysia. The six months transition shall be documented in writing, signed by all party leaders and publicly announced.

Even though Mahathir, Warisan and PKR cannot agree with each other, all parties in Harapan, Warisan and Mahathir’s grouping must try to find a common ground to reclaim the electoral mandate granted by the rakyat in the 2018 general elections. This is a sacred mission to uphold democracy and the value of the millions of Malaysians who voted for a change of government to get rid of a corrupt and kleptocratic administration involving tens of billions of US dollars. 

Efforts are still ongoing to retrieve back the monies lost, though the dropping of charges of those involved in such financial and monetary losses poses a severe setback.

In our efforts to respect the rakyat’s electoral mandate for a change of government in the 2018 general elections, there are some who have taken the opportunity to label us as power crazy. We have been criticised for not quickly regaining our rightful government and yet when we find the only realistic route left for success we are criticised as power crazy. This is unfair because while we are not afraid to be in opposition, the rakyat voted for us in 2018 to be in government.

Both DAP and Amanah have worked strenuously during the last three months to find a common ground acceptable to all but unfortunately, it has not been successful. We hope that PKR and Mahathir together with Warisan will not drift further apart but instead continue to move closer together. 

Seeing each other as rivals instead of allies will not help the rakyat’s cause and only aid those who successfully deposed an elected government with an unelected one. Only when we are all on the same page together can we ensure that Harapan can reclaim the rakyat’s government.

Further, there should be no transactional deals with principal ringleaders (former Harapan leaders) who were responsible for deposing an elected Harapan government and bringing in an unelected PN government. Harapan voters would never forgive those who betrayed their trust and stolen the rightfully elected government.

We salute Harapan, Warisan and Bersatu leaders and members who have resisted threats and inducements to bravely oppose the PN unelected government. All political parties and the rakyat stand together in support and solidarity with the Sabah state government under the leadership of the Chief Minister Shafie Apdal to prevent dishonest and disreputable elements from trying to bring down a popularly elected government.

As members of Harapan, we shall continue to perform our duty to the rakyat and the millions who voted for change. The post-Covid-19 economic crisis is so severe in its negative impact on business revenue and job losses, that we must be the rakyat’s voice and defender to ensure that government funds are utilised to help them and not go lost through leakages and malpractices.

The necessity to extend the moratorium of bank loans by an additional six months and public anger over the exorbitant rise in electricity bills by Tenaga Nasional Bhd is symptomatic of the PN government’s failure to address the plight of the rakyat suffering from the Covid-19 economic crisis.

We shall also mobilise our party machinery to prepare for the possibility of snap general elections and work together with all political parties opposed to the PN government.