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DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party and we will double up in our resolve to be a fully Malaysian party strengthening our Malay, Dayak and Kadazandusun membership in keeping with our Malaysian ideals and aspirations

There are those who forecast that with the PAS Muktamar resolution to cut off relations with DAP spelling the end of the seven-year-old Pakatan Rakyat, DAP will become a narrow-minded Chinese or non-Malay political party.

They cannot be more wrong. Firstly, DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party. Right from the beginning during DAP’s formation in 1966, DAP had pledged itself to pursue a Malaysian Dream, not a Chinese Dream, an Indian Dream or a Malay Dream.

This is why DAP is the first political party in the country to be Pan-Malaysian, establishing branches in Sarawak and Sabah before any other political party in the country.

All through the past five decades, DAP had been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam by UMNO, because of UMNO fear that the DAP will be able to make inroads into UMNO spheres of influence with our Malaysian political appeal, transcending race, religion or region.

No political party seeking support from all Malaysians can be anti-Malay or anti-Islam, or for that matter, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Dayak, anti-Kadazandusun or anti-Buddhism, anti-Christianity, anti-Hindiuism or anti-Sikkhism.

The battle against such lies and falsehoods had been a particularly uphill battle for the DAP because we had to face the full onslaught of the UMNO juggernaut with its control and ownership of the mass media, particularly in the era before the advent of Internet, the Internet news portals and the social media.

However difficult the terrain, DAP had never wavered from our objectives and principles that the DAP had been formed not to fight for any one race but for all races and Malaysians in the country! Continue reading “DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party and we will double up in our resolve to be a fully Malaysian party strengthening our Malay, Dayak and Kadazandusun membership in keeping with our Malaysian ideals and aspirations”

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Pak Samad pilih parti berintegriti

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
23 June 2015

Beberapa hari selepas Sasterawan Negara, Datuk A. Samad Said menyertai DAP, beberapa sahabat bertanyakan pendapat saya mengenai langkah sasterawan ternama itu, saya menjawab: “Apa salahnya, ini demokrasi, Samad seorang pemikir dan dia sudahpun berfikir sebelum menyertai DAP.”

Untuk beberapa hari saya belum lagi menghubunginya, memikirkan mungkin beliau sedang sibuk dengan perkembangan baru ini, hinggalah penyair Dinsman memberitahu saya bahawa Samad mahu mendengar pendapat saya mengenai langkahnya itu.

Lalu saya menghubunginya, mengucapkan tahniah kepadanya kerana memilih parti yang berintegriti, mempunyai imej bersih. Beliau mengucapkan terima kasih kepada saya.

Pada pendapat saya, sasterawan negara itu membuat pilihan yang tepat, iaitu memilih parti yang mampu mempertahankan integritinya, teguh pada prinsip perjuangannya untuk menegakkan demokrasi dan keadilan, menentang perkauman, walaupun selama puluhan tahun DAP digambarkan sebagai parti chauvinis Cina dan pelbagai lagi. Continue reading “Pak Samad pilih parti berintegriti”

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Skewered for joining ‘Chinese party’, Pak Samad laments Malaysians’ racial lens

by Boo Su-Lyn,
The Malay Mail Online
June 23, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 ― National laureate and new DAP member Datuk A. Samad Said has questioned Malaysians’ race-centric mindset that remains prevalent almost 60 years after the country achieved independence.

Commenting on reaction to his entry into the DAP, the 83-year-old bemoaned how his Muslim friends responded to the news negatively and rebuked him for joining what they described as a “Chinese party”.

“We’ve been independent for almost six decades and it’s a shame if we still think racially,” Samad told Malay Mail Online in an interview yesterday.

“I received phone calls and SMSes scolding me and asking me why I joined a Chinese party. I said, ‘Who said it’s a Chinese party? It’s a Malaysian party’,” he added.

The Malay-Muslim novelist and poet said although his wife and family members supported his decision, his friends were concerned and mistakenly thought that he had rushed into joining the secular party on June 13.

“I’ve been thinking about it for two years already. I’ve known Lim Kit Siang since the 50s. We were journalists then,” said Samad, referring to the senior DAP leader.

Samad, who has written 75 books comprising novels, short stories, dramas, essays and poems, said the DAP may have started off as a predominantly Chinese party, but pointed out that the “visionary” Lim’s “Malaysian dream” of making the party multi-racial.

“They want to be a Malaysian party. What is important is their ideal, their dream,” he said. “Because of that, I think I made the right choice in joining DAP”. Continue reading “Skewered for joining ‘Chinese party’, Pak Samad laments Malaysians’ racial lens”

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Whether the 11th Sarawak state general election will be the third time Sarawakians spearhead Malaysian political changes as happened in the 2006 and 2011 state polls?

Whether the 11th Sarawak state general election will be the third time Sarawakians spearhead Malaysian political changes as happened in the 2006 and 2011 state polls?

The question I want to pose tonight is whether the 11th Sarawak state general election, whether held this year or next, will be the third time Sarawakians spearhead political changes in Malaysia.

In the ninth Sarawak state general election in 2006, DAP made history in Sarawak winning from one to six state assembly seats, spearheading the “308 political tsunami” of the 2008 Malaysian general election where the Umno/BN coalition was ousted from power as the government in five States and lost for the first time its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

The 2011 Sarawak State General Election made further history when Pakatan Rakyat won 15 State Assembly seats, with DAP winning 12 and PKR three. The major electoral shifts in the 2011 Sarawak state general election spearheaded the “Ubah” political awakening in the 13th Federal general elections, where Datuk Seri Najib Razak became the first minority Prime Minister in the nation’s history and still without two-thirds parliamentary majority – as UMNO/BN won 48% of electoral support although he won the majority of the 222 parliamentary seats because undemocratic constituency redelineations.

What is in store for the 11th Sarawak state general election which must be held by next August? Continue reading “Whether the 11th Sarawak state general election will be the third time Sarawakians spearhead Malaysian political changes as happened in the 2006 and 2011 state polls?”

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DAP ideology suits rapper Edry just fine

By Geraldine Tong
Malaysiakini
Jun 21, 2015

MALAYSIANS KINI Edry Faizal Yusof is a Malay who speaks near-perfect Chinese. But suggest it as a reason for his joining DAP, a Chinese-majority political party, and he noticeably bristled at the thought.

“People always say ‘oh you speak Chinese, no wonder you joined DAP’. But that has nothing to do with anything,” Edry insisted.

For Edry, now a coordinator for DAP mouthpiece Roketkini, it has never been a race thing, but more of an ideology thing.

“When I first started considering getting involved in politics, I did my research and found that DAP and its ideals suited me best. That’s why I joined them,” he explained simply.

But he has not always been interested in politics, he admitted. Continue reading “DAP ideology suits rapper Edry just fine”

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Pakatan Rakyat crisis might have come earlier if PR had won majority of seats in 13 GE as Hadi had never accepted Anwar as PR candidate for Prime Minister

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. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat crisis might have come earlier if PR had won majority of seats in 13 GE as Hadi had never accepted Anwar as PR candidate for Prime Minister”

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Let us move on and keep faith with the hopes of Malaysians for change in the 13GE to ensure that although there is no more Pakatan Rakyat, the PR Common Policy Framework of national unity, justice and prosperity of Malaysians must remain achievable goals in 14GE

Yesterday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang claimed that Pakatan Rakyat is not dead yet and that the coalition still exists.

This is in contrast to the statement to The Malaysian Insider by the Dewan Ulama Chief and Johor PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr. Mahfodz Mohamed who said yesterday that he does not regret the PAS Muktamar motion to cut ties with DAP, even though it led to the dissolution of Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Mahfodz Mohamed said they were aware of the repercussions when passing the emergency motion during the ulama wing’s congress on June 3, which was subsequently adopted by the 61st PAS Muktamar without debate.

He said:

“To me, there is no turning back, there is no U-turn, because all this while we had been patient in the face of everything PKR and DAP did to PAS. We never responded rudely.

“But when we did that during the congress, we knew there would be no U-turn. We had thought it through, and we knew the consequences of our actions.”

Continue reading “Let us move on and keep faith with the hopes of Malaysians for change in the 13GE to ensure that although there is no more Pakatan Rakyat, the PR Common Policy Framework of national unity, justice and prosperity of Malaysians must remain achievable goals in 14GE”

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No cause for dejection or despondency over the death of PR – there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity for all Malaysians through a new political realignment

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Tidak perlu bersedih dan putus di atas kematian Pakatan Rakyat – sepatutnya harus ada ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia melalui susunan politik yang baru

Nampaknya ramai yang kecewa dengan kematian Pakatan Rakyat, namun ini bukan alasan untuk merasa sedih dan kecewa di saat sepatutnya wujud ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia menjelang pilihanraya umum ke-14.

Meskipun perjuangan politik tujuh tahun Pakatan Rakyat telah berakhir ekoran pelanggaran-pelanggaran serius terhadap Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat oleh PAS, kita percaya bahawa impian dan visi ke arah Malaysia baru yang memiliki perpaduan nasional, persefahaman antara kaum dan agama, serta rasa hormat, keadilan, akauntabiliti, urus tadbir yang baik, menamatkan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa, memelihara maruah, mempunyai sistem pendidikan, kesihatan, perumahan, pengangkutan yang baik serta persekitaran yang selamat untuk semua rakyat Malaysia harus menjadi objektif utama bagi PRU ke-14.

Atas tujuan ini, DAP akan bekerjasama dengan parti-parti politik dan kuasa-kuasa politik yang sependapat, demi membawa muafakat politik baru yang komited terhadap prinsip-prinsip tersebut dan wawasan Impian Malaysia.

Kami di DAP tidak akan bekerjasama dengan pimpinan PAS yang telah mencabul Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, tetapi bersedia bekerjasama dengan kuasa-kuasa politik dan rakyat Malaysia yang komited terhadap Dasar Bersama tersebut, termasuklah ahli-ahli PAS di pelbagai peringkat yang tidak menolak dan mengabaikan Dasar Bersama tersebut. Continue reading “No cause for dejection or despondency over the death of PR – there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity for all Malaysians through a new political realignment”

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First signs of “threatened with death to born anew” 置之死地而后生 – PR’s “cease to exist” situation elicited neither joy nor celebration from UMNO/BN

PAS MP for Parit Buntar Mujahid Yusuf Rawa gave an interesting description of the present political scenario in his interview with Malaysiakini yesterday when he quipped: “We need to die to be reborn, to live anew.”

Mujahid cannot be more apt when he said in his interview: “Pakatan is just a name. What is more important is the substance.”

Mujahid is referring to a situation which is also described in Sun Tzu’s Art of War and expressed in the Chinese saying, 置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng – “threatened with death to born anew”.

We can already see the first signs of this “置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng” effect, as it has elicited neither joy nor celebration from UMNO/BN quarters, apart from half-hearted “I told you so” reactions. Continue reading “First signs of “threatened with death to born anew” 置之死地而后生 – PR’s “cease to exist” situation elicited neither joy nor celebration from UMNO/BN”

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Umno’s hypocrisy nauseating!

By P Ramakrishnan
Free Malaysia Today
June 16, 2015

Some Umno leaders seem to have taken leave of their common sense. They don’t make sense when they speak and there is no logic in what they say.

COMMENT

The reaction from two Umno leaders exposes their hypocrisy when they came out with their ridiculous statements with regard to the DAP’s willingness to build a mosque in Kampung Pasir Tumboh in Kelantan.

According to Kelantan Umno liaison chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, “The DAP’s plan to build a mosque in Gua Musang is an insult to Muslims in this country.”

Meanwhile, not to be outdone by Mustapa , Kelantan Umno Religious Affairs Bureau chairman Datuk Ashraf Wajdi Dusuki repeated the same silly statement: “The DAP’s plan to build a mosque in Gua Musang is an insult to Muslims in this country.”

Except for coming out with a sweeping statement claiming outrageously that it is an insult to Muslims in this country, none of them has cared to state in what way it would be an insult to Muslims if a mosque was to be built by DAP. Continue reading “Umno’s hypocrisy nauseating!”

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Let us move on, as there is no time to lose on polemics to rekindle hopes among Malaysians who want change that such a possibility is still alive and relevant in the 14GE through an alignment of political forces

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Maju terus, kita tidak boleh membuang masa dengan polemik, demi menghidupkan semula harapan rakyat Malaysia yang mahukan perubahan bahawasanya peluang itu masih wujud dalam PRU ke-14 melalui penyusunan semula kuasa-kuasa politik

Saya berkenan betul dengan cara Ahli Parlimen PAS Parit Buntar Mujahid Yusuf Rawa menggambarkan senario politik negara hari ini. Beliau menyebut: “We need to die to be reborn, to live anew.” (Malaysiakini)

Ini sangat hampir dengan pepatah Cina, 置之死地而后生 zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng.

Inilah sebab di sebalik keputusan yang diambil Jawatankuasa Eksekutif Pusat DAP semalam, ekoran daripada usul Muktamar PAS supaya PAS memutuskan hubungan dengan DAP, selain pencabulan Dasar Bersama Pakatan dan prinsip konsensus secara berulang kali. Pakatan Rakyat tidak lagi wujud.

Keputusan untuk memuktamadkan bahawa Pakatan sudah tidak lagi wujud bukanlah langkah mengalah, bahkan satu tindakan untuk mengiktiraf realiti yang disokong dengan harapan dan keyakinan untuk masa akan datang. Continue reading “Let us move on, as there is no time to lose on polemics to rekindle hopes among Malaysians who want change that such a possibility is still alive and relevant in the 14GE through an alignment of political forces”

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Kata dah putus hubungan, tapi kenapa susah nak lepaskan jawatan?

Nomy Nozwir
The Malaysian Insider
13 June 2015

Pada minggu lalu, Muktamar PAS kali ke-61 berlangsung dengan menyaksikan golongan pro Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang menang besar dalam pemilihan parti tersebut.

Kemenangan terbesar golongan yang dikenali sebagai pro ulama ini juga membuat satu resolusi mengatakan akan memutuskan hubungan mereka dengan DAP, tetapi kekal dalam Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Ini macam sudah bercerai tapi masih hendak duduk serumah tidur sekatil.

Saya melihat hubungan “menage-a-trois” antara ketiga-tiga parti dalam PR ini sangat unik, memutuskan hubungan tetapi masih dalam satu kumpulan.

Beberapa ahli PAS yang tidak sebulu dengan golongan pro-ulama ini, seperti Mohamad Sabu, melepaskan jawatan sebagai seorang ahli lembaga pengarah di Perbadanan Air Pulau Pinang. Continue reading “Kata dah putus hubungan, tapi kenapa susah nak lepaskan jawatan?”

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DAP’s challenge to win the Malay hearts and minds

by C.K. Foo | TMI

The news that 80-year old national laureate, Abdul Samad Said, popularly known as Pak Samad, will be joining DAP may come as a surprise to many, but not to some others.

It is another feather in DAP’s cap, coming after a tumultuous week of mutual incrimination between the ulama leaders who gained control of PAS and DAP leaders, following the PAS muktamar’s decision to sever ties with DAP.

Some would ask, what is it that attracts some Malays to join DAP, like the octogenarian Pak Samad, and a twenty-something Malay girl, Dyana Sofya Daud, the latter who not only joined, but who took active part in DAP politics?

Similarly, ex-Umno politician, Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, who joined DAP prior to the 13th general election and with the strong support of non-Malay voters won the parliamentary seat of Raub in Pahang.

Perhaps what attracted some Malays to join DAP is that the party has remained on course since it was established in 1966 by faithfully sticking to its mandate , i.e. to be a truly multiracial party staying above partisan politics of race and religion. Continue reading “DAP’s challenge to win the Malay hearts and minds”

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Time for realignment of political forces to keep alive the hopes of Malaysians for political change in 14th General Elections for an agenda for “Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity”

Today’s event is most significant for two reasons: the completion of the Impian Kelantan project to repair or build 60 houses in Kampung Pasir Tumboh which was destroyed in the Kelantan Great Flood which started on Dec. 22 last year.

Secondly, the announcement of National Laureatte Pak Samad’s membership of the DAP.

Both political coalitions in the country, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakat, are going through an unprecedented turmoil and chaos.

The Umno/Barisan Nasional coalition is fighting a life-and-death struggle with the daily escalation of the titanic Najib-Mahathir battle, with the former Prime Minister trying to save UMNO for he is convinced that UMNO under Najib would lose the next general election.

The Pakatan Rakyat has also come to the end of the road with the PAS Muktamar motion last week cutting ties with the DAP.

Who will win the next general elections? Can UMNO/BN coalition survive for another general election? Continue reading “Time for realignment of political forces to keep alive the hopes of Malaysians for political change in 14th General Elections for an agenda for “Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity””

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There is no Pakatan Rakyat if there is no PR Common Policy Framework or PR consensus operational principle

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s concern from Sungai Buloh Prison about the fate of Pakatan Rakyat after the PAS Muktamar is the concern of the majority of Malaysians who had voted for PR in the last general elections two years ago, reposing their trust and hopes in PR to spearhead the political, socio-economic, educational and nation-building changes and end the corruption, cronyism and abuses of power rampant in the country if Malaysia is to achieve its full greatness as a nation.

DAP and I reaffirm our commitment to the PR Common Policy Framework and the PR consensus operational principle which had been the basis of PR’s success in the 2013 General Election, which ensured that the Najib government is a minority government for the first time in the nation’s history and denied the UMNO/BN coalition two-thirds parliamentary majority for the second general elections.

The UMNO/BN coalition is on its last legs, but there is no way Malaysians can continue to repose their trust and hope in Pakatan Rakyat if we cannot be steadfast, constant and consistent in our commitment to the PR Common Policy Framework and the PR consensus operational principle. Continue reading “There is no Pakatan Rakyat if there is no PR Common Policy Framework or PR consensus operational principle”

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Trouble ahead for Pakatan

– Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman
The Malaysian Insider
9 June 2015

The outcome of last week’s PAS annual meeting is likely to change the Malaysian political landscape. It is the first time in nearly three decades that the Islamist party’s leadership has been dominated by leaders from only one faction within the party.

The conservatives (ulama) in the party, made up of religious scholars and clerics, effectively routed its rival reformist faction by winning all the party’s top positions and 17 of the 18 positions in the central committee.

The women, youth and religious scholars’ wings are now dominated entirely by the conservatives, which hold different views from the reformists on the implementation of Islamic criminal law (hudud), and whether PAS should continue to work with the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

Significantly, in the aftermath of the win by the ulama, the party has adopted a resolution to break all ties with its opposition partner DAP, throwing into question PAS’s political direction and that of the three-party PR pact. Continue reading “Trouble ahead for Pakatan”

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Pakatan Rakyat Selangor is in unchartered waters post-PAS Muktamar

Tony Pua
DAP Selangor Chairman and MP PJ Utara
8th June 2015

The PAS General Assembly (“Muktamar”) has decided to sever all ties (“putus hubungan”) and stop all political cooperation “kerjasama politik” with DAP. As a result, Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor has undoubtedly entered unchartered waters. The only thing certain under such circumstances is that nothing can or will be the same again.

It is inconceivable for anyone to think or believe that Pakatan Rakyat can continue to exist in its current state given the above unequivocal motion. The Pakatan Rakyat government comprises of three political parties which subscribed to a common policy platform. However, when the common policy platform is breached, compounded by the decision of one party to stop cooperation with another within the coalition, then the coalition naturally collapses.

How does the Government function, when the state executive councillors (Exco) of PAS refuses to cooperate with the Exco from DAP when carrying out their respective duties? Can one even imagine how surreal the state Exco meeting will be, with the PAS Exco ignoring the DAP Excos or pretending that they don’t exist? Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat Selangor is in unchartered waters post-PAS Muktamar”

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Post-PAS muktamar scenarios

— Liew Chin Tong
Malay Mail Online
June 7, 2015

JUNE 7 — I have been asked by the media to comment on DAP’s relations with PAS in Johor.

PAS muktamar’s 6th June 2015 approval of a motion to severe ties with DAP, as well as the PAS party polls on 4th June are two key events that set the scene for major realignments in Malaysian politics beyond PAS’ internal dynamics.

The agenda of PAS’ conservatives is to work with Umno with the aim of pushing for hudud legislation. In the mean time, in order to work with Umno and to push for hudud, ties with DAP needed to be severed. To win federal power is not a priority as the conservatives are prepared to accept Umno’s continous rule.

The progressives, who became a significant force in PAS after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking in 1998, aspire to defeat Umno and its associated racial politics. As it is realistic to expect PAS not to win enough seats on its own to form the federal government , cooperation with DAP via a consensus-based common policy platform is deemed the pragmatic route.

The defeat of the progressives and the motion to severe ties with DAP gives rise to new situations and scenarios. Continue reading “Post-PAS muktamar scenarios”

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The PAS purge of the progressives

By Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Jun 6, 2015

COMMENT The results have definitely spoken – the progressive, national-oriented pro-Pakatan Rakyat faction inside PAS has been wiped out from leadership positions in all of the party organs.

The outcome was not unexpected, but the ugliness of the muktamar even surpassed the nastiness of the vicious campaign before the polls. The implications of this outcome will deepen the ongoing divisions of the opposition, effectively severing Pakatan irreparably and empowering Umno.

This outcome was exactly what Umno wanted and assisted in with its infiltration of PAS. Ironically the electoral sweep by party leader Abdul Hadi Awang and his ulama hatchet men will feed into the continued leadership crisis within Umno. With Pakatan fractured, schisms and splits within Umno also deepen.

In short, the results of the PAS elections have contributed to Malaysia’s ongoing political crisis across the political divide and highlighted the deficit in quality national leadership to address the challenges ordinary Malaysians face.

The blame game has already begun. There are many at fault – PAS leaders from both factions, Umno, DAP and more. Labels of ‘losers’ and frustrations are likely to rise, as the noise of Malaysian politics gets louder with internal pettiness that serves to disenchant and anger the general public. Continue reading “The PAS purge of the progressives”

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What my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is and is not

As my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition continues to be the subject of controversy and misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise, let me clarify what the proposal “is” and “is not”, and the background for such a proposal.

Firstly, I had said that the proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is based on the premise that the two existing political coalitions in the country, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, have lost all public trust, credibility and legitimacy, in which case, Malaysians must think the unthinkable and move beyond the present political scenario dominated by two political coalitions in a post-BN, post-PR phase of Malaysian politics.

We need not tarry here as to why and how the two political coalitions, BN and PR, could lose all public trust, credibility and legitimacy.

Clearly, if anyone of the two political coalitions, BN or PR, can continue to command public trust, credibility, legitimacy and support of Malaysians, then we have not arrived at the post-BN, post-PR phase of Malaysian politics. Continue reading “What my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is and is not”