YOURSAY | He could have felt sidelined as he is not a party to the deal.

Shafie chastises Harapan for inking deal with govt after 'stolen mandate'

OCD: The government-Pakatan Harapan memorandum of understanding (MOU), on the face of it, seems to be a very pragmatic solution to calm down the recent fervour in political rhetoric.

And some rationale comes to bear – importantly, this MOU would appear to negate the ability for the court cluster to hold Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to ransom as their support or otherwise becomes irrelevant. The same applies to GPS, Warisan and Pejuang.

No longer can divisive politicians like Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib Abdul Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi make threats to withhold their votes and support if they don't get their way. It somehow seems almost too good to be true.

Additionally, this MOU would seem to deliver in part some of the Harapan manifesto commitments even though they (Harapan) don't control the executive. These were commitments that Mahathir was elected to implement but spent a large part of his time working hard to avoid implementing.

So kudos to Harapan leaders Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu for displaying the pragmatism, sense and fortitude to help deliver the much-needed change to the country.

Quigonbond: The value of the MOU is hopefully the government is sincere and Harapan gets some of their pet projects accomplished even while in the opposition.

That's still a big if because Umno and reforms are generally oxymoronic. Any kind of reform that empowers those other than the executive arm and more particularly, the PM's office, is taboo.

We can expect a lot of excuses down the road why the agreed reforms cannot be implemented. Politically, that's bad for the government, and good for Harapan come GE15.

Maybe Warisan leader Shafie Apdal is more concerned Harapan could emerge stronger. Harapan is doing what is good for Harapan. I support that.

Malayan Boey: I am prepared to give this MOU a chance. There will be enough time to make a judgement on its value. By then, we will have GE15 and the rakyat, not cybertroopers, will decide who will form the next government.

Real Truth: Harapan leaders have demonstrated that they are there to serve the rakyat, whether they are in the government or in the opposition. This is the strength of Harapan leaders and must be emulated by all politicians.

The MOU shows how much they care for the rakyat and their desire for better Malaysia is evident.

Shafie, you missed the opportunity to shine for the rakyat.

Justmyview: Warisan is not big enough or trustworthy enough to be invited, having fallen under the influence of politically destructive Mahathir.

Whether this is good or bad for Harapan, it is left to be seen but the MOU curbs the behind-the-scene machinations of the court cluster, the Azmin Ali gang, the Muhyiddin Yassin tribe and the fundamentalist PAS.

This itself is a form of victory for Harapan. Most importantly, however, is that the rakyat’s needs will get some attention.

OurMalaysia: Hold on, has anyone listened to Shafie's speech in full? We may be taking his comments out of context.

To me, his speech is not against the MOU, rather it is a warning to all parliamentarians, that the rakyat are watching, and more than that, our own conscience will hold each one to account – that is, we all must tread carefully and act with integrity at all times.

I don't think he is tearing up the MOU.

Capo: Shafie, were you not among the traitors in Mahathir's house on the eve of the Harapan government's collapse?

That means you actively participated in the most evil scheme to bring down a legitimately elected Harapan government. That also means you, too, stole the people's mandate.

If you and Mahathir had cared for the nation and its people, we would not be in this sordid mess, would we? Where were your values when it really mattered?

RZee: Why is Shafie making an issue about the MOU being inked with the government?

As a seasoned, and we hope, mature leader, he should be pointing out whether there are advantages or disadvantages of the MOU. Is it a good thing or bad thing? Will it in any way affect the opposition in the next GE?

It would appear to me that the MOU is an advantage to the opposition - they lose nothing and have given up nothing.

IndigoSwan6963: Warisan must know that the MOU is for the betterment of the rakyat to first fight the Covid-19 pandemic and to save lives. Without which, the country will go down into the abyss.

OrangLama: One must understand that the MOU is not a confidence and supply agreement (CSA), and we can see that it was signed by Harapan not to the detriment of the people.

One of the main parliamentary reforms that must be implemented under the MOU is the fulfilment of the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Would that not be the long desire of the entire of Sabah and Sarawak, Shafie?

I am wondering if he now felt sidelined as he is not a party to the MOU.

If he did not desire the DPM post, there could be a slight chance that GPS would have supported Harapan, hence GPS waited for the last moment to show their support for Ismail Sabri.

Mushiro: Shafie criticise the MOU but he does not have any solutions. He just wants to look good by criticising Harapan.

With the MOU, Harapan expects the agreed institutional reforms to be implemented, which is beneficial to the rakyat.

There is a conditional promise by Harapan not to oust the prime minister from the government and to support Budget 2022 in return for the agreed reforms.

If there is no MOU, no one is sure if this government will fall, and they may do as they like.

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