Anwar does a u-turn on the Save Malaysia alliance
(Malaysian Digest) – Previously, former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had extended his support all the way from prison to welcome Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad into the opposition’s fold in an effort to bring down Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
However, now Anwar appears to have second thoughts on the effectiveness of Mahathir working with Lim Kit Siang as the uneasy alliance is clearly not galvanizing the public to action.
Anwar expressed his opinion that Mahathir working with Kit Siang is not enough to topple Najib, when he spoke to reporters outside the courthouse yesterday.
“You can’t depend on the elite to determine the direction of the country. It must be done through the democratic process that represents the people’s choice.
“So, go back to the nation’s governing institutions and democratic process. All that was clearly lacking in the much publicized declaration,” Anwar noted with disappointment.
He also described that the recent move by the ‘Save Malaysia’ movement and People’s Congress gathering as not having much effect on the nation’s governing institutions apart from depriving people of their rights.
There is truth in Anwar’s statement if the recently concluded People’s Congress 2016 is put under the microscope.
A total of 20 debaters took part as they spent 10 to 15 minutes each voicing their discontent featuring prominent leaders such as Mahathir and Kit Siang himself, apart from Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Mohamad Sabu, Rafizi Ramli and other opposition leaders.
Many repeated criticism of Datuk Seri Najib Razak for receiving the RM2.6 billion donation in addition to accusing the Prime Minister of stealing from government investment company, 1MDB.
Calling themselves leaders of civil society, the likes of Bersih Chairman, Maria Chin Abdullah and activist Ambiga Sreenevasan, they called for Najib to step down immediately without going through the democratic process of a general election (PRU14).
As Anwar points out, these calls clearly represent attempts to subvert the nation’s democratic system for the interests of a handful of political elite and does not represent the people’s choice.
