In response to media query, I want to stress that I do not want to be involved in polemcis with the PAS President, Hadi Awang who claimed that Pakatan Rakyat is not dead yet and that the coalition still exists.
The PAS Muktamar resolution cutting ties with DAP is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back as for a year Pakatan Rakyat had existed in name but not in fact, because Hadi had violated the two basic and bedrock Pakatan Rakyat principles, the PR Common Policy Framework and the consensus operational principle that the agreement of all three PR component parties are needed for any PR motion to be made and that no single leader has the veto power to override the decisions of the PR Leadership Council.
Hadi not only violated the PR Common Policy Framework but acted in utter disregard of the PR consensus operational principle as if he could override decisions taken by the PR Leadership Council in the same way he had no qualms about overriding decisions taken by the PAS Central Working Committee.
In fact, the Pakatan Rakyat crisis might have come even earlier if Pakatan Rakyat had been successful in winning the majority of the parliamentary seats in the 13GE two years ago as Hadi had never accepted Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the PR candidate to be Prime Minister of Malaysia.
With such a background, I find it astounding that Hadi could now claim that Pakatan Rakyat is not dead, when the PR Secretariat had for the past year find it almost impossible to fix a meeting when the PAS President could attend.
Instead of getting involved in the polemic of whether Pakatan Rakyat is dead or just “pengsan”, the more important question is whether without Pakatan Rakyat, the hopes and aspirations of Malaysians for political change which were so prominent and pronounced in the 13th General Election are still relevant, valid and achievable in the 14th General Election, or whether these hopes and aspirations have been crushed for good with Pakatan Rakyat ceasing to exist.
We are all sad that Pakatan Rakyat has ceased to exist, but this is a fact we cannot escape from when one of the three component PR parties had repeatedly violated not one but both of the two basic and bedrock Pakatan Rakyat principles – the PR Common Policy Framework and the consensus operational principle.
We are grim and glum about Pakatan Rakyat ceasing to exist, but there is no reason to be gloomy about future political prospects.
I am confident that Malaysians who want political change can prevail to face up to the great challenge of ensuring that the PR Common Policy Framework principles and objectives not only remain valid and relevant, but also achievable, in the 14th General Election altholugh there is no Pakatan Rakyat left.
In the 13th General Election, 53% of voters supported the three parties in Pakatan Rakyat because “good governance” top the agenda in the PR Common Policy Framework.
The majority electoral support achieved by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE had nothing to do with any religious or sectarian objectives, whether hudud implementation or Ian slamic State.
This is why any violation of the PR Common Policy Framework is in fact a breach of the mandate given by 53% of the voters to the Pakatan Rakyat parties in the 13GE.
DAP will work with like-minded political parties like Parti Keadilan Rakyat and political forces including individuals to fashion a new coalition firmly based on the PR Common Policy Framework principles and objectives which have been abandoned by the Hadi leadership of PAS.
We must agree that the first and most important agenda of this new coalition is “good governance” to ensure that Malaysia enjoys a vibrant economy to provide to all Malaysians good jobs, education, hospitals, transportation, environment and where all Malaysians are liberated from high crime rates and the fear of crime.
One political reality all Malaysians must accept is that no one race or political party can run this country.
There must be inter-racial and inter-religious unity, harmony, understanding and goodwill and every political movement should be inclusive to be open to all Malaysians, to work towards a distinctive Malaysian identity transcending race, religion and region where all citizens in the country are all first and foremost Malaysians.
For this reason, I welcome Sheikh Omar Ali for signing up to join the DAP.
Sheikh Omar was a student leader and activist, having been chairman of Solidarity Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM).
DAP’s doors are open to all Malaysians, whether Malay or non-Malay youths, regardless of race, religion or region, who share the DAP’s common principles and objective to attain the Malaysian Dream where Malaysians are colour-blind and a person is not judged by his race or religion but by his or her humanity, to be a Malaysian first and other affinities whether race, religion or region second.
(Media Conference Statement in Kluang together with National Laureatte Pak Samad welcoming former student activist Sheikh Omar Ali joining DAP as member on Saturday, 20th June 2015 at 7 pm)