Is it possible for the Anwar Unity Government to make a breakthrough in the six state general elections in August?
I think that this is not only feasible but the likely result although political parties in the Anwar unity government must not take things for granted or fall between two stools — over-optimism of victory in Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan and over-pessimism of defeat in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah.
One objective of the Anwar unity government is to demonstrate that the so-called “green wave” in the 15th parliamentary elections was a misnomer, that it was built on lies, falsehoods, andfake news on the social media, like the wild and preposterous allegations which the PAS President, Hadi Awang,had made against DAP and me but was unable to substantiate for six long months.
This is the time for a war of nerves, for political coalitions like the Perikatan Nasional (PN) to behave as if they are stronger than before, and that an irresistible and invincible “green wave” would sweep the six state general elections in August and end the premiership of Anwar Ibrahim.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders from Bersatu and PAS have publicly stated that PN can form the Selangor state government, have fifty-fifty chance of forming the Negeri Sembilan state government, can make gains in Penang, that the Anwar unity government cannot win more than three state assembly seats in Kedah, and that PN will sweep all the state assembly seats in Kelantan and Terengganu.
All that is needed to prove that the so-called “green wave” is a misnomer is for the Anwar unity government to retain the State Governments of Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan with two-third majorities, and to win more than three seats in Kedah and “break the egg” by winning at least one seat each in Kelantan and Terengganu.
For the three states of Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan, the three state governments must go on a “war footing” to repel the PN attempts to win the state governments of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
The PN position in the three states run by PAS are not invincible, and I hold optimistic view that the political parties in the Anwar unity government can win more than three seats in Kedah and “break the egg” in both Kelantan and Terengganu.
For the first time in the history of Malaysia, the six state general elections will have a bearing on national politics and decide whether Anwar Ibrahim can survive five years as the the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia or whether Malaysia will have a new Prime Minister in the person of Muhyiddin Yassin or Hadi Awang.
The six state general elections will also decide whether Malaysia can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of a plural Malaysia which the nation’s founding fathers (including the first three Prime Ministers who were also UMNO Presidents) have written into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara so that the country’s plural society can re-unite and become a first-rate world-class nation with world-class political, economic, educational, social, and government systems instead of becoming a failed, divided, rogue, and kleptocratic state.
Malaysia needs Anwar to be Prime Minister not for five years, but for at least 10 years for the Malaysian Dream to be realised — Malaysia to be an example to the world in “Unity in Diversity” and the role model to the world of inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and harmony.
This is the last chance to save Malaysia from being a second-rate mediocre country and deteriorating further to become a third-class failed state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe by Malaysia Centennial in 2057.
We have not fulfilled our Malaysian Dream in the last six decades.
Instead of we have lost out economically to one country after another — Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Unless we buck up, we will lose out to more countries.
We must recognise that Malaysia is in deep trouble, reflected from the value of our Malaysian ringgit, when we were one Malaysian Ringgit to one Singapore dollar in 1965 but which has devalued to one Singapore Dollar to 3.40 Malaysian Ringgit.
Is it because Singapore has more talents and skills than Malaysia? It cannot be so, because Singapore is great today because of Malaysian talents and skills who have gone to the island republic to make a living!
Why can’t they stay in Malaysia to make Malaysia great and to realise the Malaysian Dream for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region?
When Transparency International (TI) started its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in 1995, we were way ahead of China, India, and Indonesia.
Since then, China, India, and Indonesia have closed the gap of a clean and honest government, and it is likely that China will overtake Malaysia in the TI CPI in this decade, and India and Indonesia will overtake Malaysia in the next decade, if we continue with our national decline..
In the first annual TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was the top OIC country, but in the 2022 TI CPI, we have lost out of three OIC countries, namely United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Can Malaysia be the top OIC country again in the annual TI CPI series?
All Malaysians must ask themselves two questions: firstly, whether Malaysia can be saved; and secondly, whether Malaysia is worth saving.
Malaysia is still “save-able” and worth saving.
If Malaysia is not save-able or not worth saving, then that is the end of the story,.
But Malaysia has not reached the stage of a totally broken, divided, rogue, and failed nation although we have fallen considerably from our expectations of a world-class great plural nation when we became a nation in 1957.
Malaysia is at the confluence of the four great civilisations in the world — Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian, and Western.
Can Malaysia leverage on the best values and virtues of these four great civilisations to make Malaysia, using the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, “a beacon of light in the difficult and distracted world”?
If we can do so, Malaysia can still be a great world-class plural nation and save the country from being a kleptocracy, kakistocracy, a failed and rogue state in the next three to four decades will be a worthwhile effort.
This is the challenge of the six state general election in August.
(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 30th May 2023)
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