Punish Pakatan NOW to wake Mahathir up
KTemoc Konsiders
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed has spoken when it comes to voters in the Tanjung Piai by-election in Johor. He has said that the locals should not shoot themselves in the foot by not voting for Pakatan Harapan just because they are angry.
He is, of course, also the chairperson of Pakatan Harapan. And he was at that time campaigning in Johor when he said it. He had been campaigning together with other members of his cabinet, such as Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Mahathir went on to say that if the voters act out of anger, they would suffer for the next three years till the next general election under the wrong candidate.
“If we reject the candidate who can serve us, because of anger or other reasons, we will be the ones at a loss. In English, they say don’t shoot yourself in the foot,” he said.
I guess Mahathir realises that his coalition faces a tough uphill battle in the by-election, for whatever reason. He obviously thinks that the voters there are angry and that this could be a cause for them to not want to vote for Pakatan Harapan, but for the opposition instead.
It wasn’t just him. His colleague Lim Guan Eng also said the same thing.
“If we fail to fulfil our promises in three-and-a-half years, it won’t be too late to punish us then. But why vent your frustrations based on opposition slander? Three-and-a-half years. Surely you would not deny this opportunity to yourselves? You will not be punishing Harapan, but yourselves,” Lim (below) said.
Although they can sense that people are angry with them, they don’t seem to actually know what is it that they did to deserve the anger. In fact, it more or less seems like they actually don’t think they deserve it and it is all slander from the opposition.
So let me remind the Harapan leaders why voters might be angry with them. For you readers, do chime in the comments section if you have anything to add. But please do it objectively and professionally. No naughty and indecent postings please.
One of the most obvious reasons is that many Malaysians feel that Harapan, after being voted into government, has not fulfilled many of the promises that they have made. We can list down the promises, if they want.
The 30 percent women quota in the government, which they promised to fulfil, but after more than a year it still hasn’t been reached. The economy is still bad and the unemployment rate is still high. Let’s not even mention how religious and racial intolerance has not got any better.
Basically, many of the old grouses that Malaysians have been complaining about have not been addressed. It’s the same now as it was then. So, what is the difference who we vote for, right? It’s just going to be the same old same old.
Sure, there are some improvements. We can’t deny that corruption has been dealt with quite aggressively. Certain forms of transparency and accountability have also improved among the administrators. Yes, the media has seen some significant improvement.
