My responses in full for The Malay Mail
Nurul Izzah Anwar
In relation to your question, the party is relieved with the end of fitnah 2 and the bombardment of scurrilous attacks against our de facto leader. We have consistently advocated for political contestation based on issues and differing policies. Recall the invite issued by our de facto leader to the PM to an open debate on the economy. A reply has yet to be forthcoming.
Hence, we are more than ready to embrace policy centered debates which allows the Rakyat to make a choice between two legitimate political entities – predicated on free and fair coverage in the mainstream media to allow for informed decision making.
As a grouping, Pakatan Rakyat grew from a movement for justice into a political coalition that aims to bring changes for a better Malaysia for All Malaysians.
Pakatan Rakyat grew from a movement for justice into a political coalition that aims to bring changes for a better Malaysia for All Malaysians.
We have been tested – we have faced all possible political and moral ‘tests’ from the political conspiracy sodomy II trial against our leader Anwar Ibrahim, the takeover of Perak, the party hopping incidents and the PAS-UMNO ‘unity government’ invitation – and we have learned, matured and have become true partners bonded together by hardship and a common cause which is politics for ‘Demi Rakyat Dan Demokrasi’.
We are fit to govern – we have also gained the experience in governing 5 and later 4 states successfully. The financial performance, governance, economic development and social cohesion achievements are evidence of our ability to lead and govern effectively. We have achieved much more in 3 years than what BN has achieved in the 51 years it has governed most of the states. For example, in Selangor when Pakatan took over in 2008, there was only RM400 million in cash reserves but as of 2011 we have managed to increase this amount to RM1.2 billion which is 3 times more than BN’s 51 year in government. In Penang, we’ve managed to reduce public sector debt by nearly 95%, from over RM600 million in 2008 to just RM35 in 2011. Now just imagine what can be achieved at the Federal level when we win Putrajaya.
