The Perikatan government is delivering Pakatan’s promises
More importantly, Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional are fulfilling the mandate of the voters by looking after the lives and livelihoods of Malaysians and by implementing good governance, transparency, accountability, separation of powers, independence of the PDRM, MACC, AGC, EC, etc., an end to Pakatan Harapan’s cronyism and nepotism, and delivering all those promises made by Pakatan Harapan but never delivered in the 22 months they were in power.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One Pakatan Harapan leader once said, after drinking Coke for so long, why not try Pepsi for a change? You never know, maybe you will like Pepsi better. “Coke” here meaning Barisan Nasional, and “Pepsi”, Pakatan Harapan.
Well, in May 2018, Malaysian voters did switch over to Pepsi and many found that it was not better than Coke as advertised. In fact, it is worse — so many regretted switching over to “Pepsi” and now want to go back to “Coke”.
Pakatan Harapan asked us to try “Pepsi” for a change
Today, we are, again, being asked to decide between “Coke” and “Pepsi”. Mahathir or Anwar, which is your choice? Actually, a choice between Mahathir and Anwar is not like choosing between Coke and Pepsi. It is like choosing between Pepsi and Pepsi, not much difference. Both are not as good as “the real thing”, Coke.
Muhyiddin Yassin has been prime minister or PM8 of the Perikatan Nasional government for 116 days and has done more than what Pakatan Harapan did with Mahathir as prime minister for 655 days.
At the end of the day, what matters are lives and livelihoods. And Muhyiddin has placed that at the top of Perikatan Nasional’s priority list. He is making sure that the minimum number of lives are lost to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and that the pandemic has minimum impact on the economy and on people’s livelihoods.
And, in the meantime, what has Pakatan Harapan been doing in those same 116 days?
Pakatan Harapan wasted the mandate they were given by quarrelling instead of reforming in the 655 days they were in power
First, they were trying to undermine Muhyiddin by creating this false impression or perception that Muhyiddin and/or Perikatan Nasional does not have the majority in parliament (meaning less than 112 seats in parliament) or a razor-thin majority (meaning just 115 seats or so).
Secondly, Pakatan Harapan does not care about the lives or livelihoods of Malaysians. They are too busy quarrelling amongst themselves about who should be prime minister or PM9 in the event they successfully topple Muhyiddin through a vote of no confidence in parliament next month.
How would ousting Muhyiddin and changing the prime minister (or changing the government) help save lives and improve the economy and wellbeing of Malaysians?
It does not. But that is not what concerns Pakatan Harapan. What concerns Pakatan Harapan is the so-called “mandate of the voters”. The majority of the voters voted for Pakatan Harapan so the federal government must be given back to Pakatan Harapan.
Pakatan Harapan can never be “the real thing”
Okay, let us focus on that, then.
PKR garnered 16.94% of the popular votes. DAP got 18.92% of the votes. And PAN won 5.43%. That comes to a total of 41.29% for Pakatan Harapan.
Barisan Nasional garnered 33.77% of the popular votes. PAS got 16.82% And PPBM won 5.95%. That comes to a total of 56.54% for Perikatan Nasional.
Now tell me, who has the mandate of the rakyat? Pakatan Harapan’s 41.29% or Perikatan Nasional’s 56.54%?
What the hell are these people talking about? Can’t they count or what?
Anyway, what was the mandate that the voters gave Pakatan Harapan? Let’s talk about that.
Mahathir or Anwar makes no difference when it is still “Pepsi”
First was to implement its 2018 General Election Manifesto promises. Second was to deliver its promised “Agenda Reformasi” or “Reform Agenda” that Anwar Ibrahim and PKR have been shouting and screaming about for 22 years.
Yes, the 2018 General Election Manifesto promises and Anwar’s-PKR’s “Agenda Reformasi” or “Reform Agenda”. That was the mandate that the voters or rakyat gave Pakatan Harapan in May 2018.
But did Pakatan Harapan, PKR, DAP, Mahathir or Anwar fulfil the mandate of the voters-rakyat by delivering the 2018 General Election Manifesto promises and Anwar’s-PKR’s “Agenda Reformasi” or “Reform Agenda”?
Mahathir said the 2018 General Election Manifesto is not a Holy Book so Pakatan Harapan needs not follow it, while not a single reform from Anwar’s-PKR’s “Agenda Reformasi” or “Reform Agenda” was delivered.
The Perikatan Nasional government is delivering Pakatan Harapan’s promises
And they had 22 months to do this but they did not do a single thing. Why? Instead, they wasted those 22 months quarrelling over who should be the prime minister. And now they say they must topple Muhyiddin and take over so that they can deliver those promises which they should have delivered two years ago but did not.
There are two people doing a marvellous job under Muhyiddin’s watch. The Director General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, and the Minister of Finance, Senator Dato’ Sri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. And both are not politicians. They are technocrats.
Most important of all, these technocrats who are running the very important ministries are not subject to political interference. And this is not just at the Ministries of Health and Finance but in the equally important agencies such as PDRM, MACC, AGC, EC, and so on. They are allowed to do their job without fear or favour, not like during the time of Pakatan Harapan when they were tools of politicians.
Critics of Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional talk about the mandate of the voters. But then, with 56.54% of the popular votes, Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional do have the mandate of the voters.
More importantly, Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional are fulfilling the mandate of the voters by looking after the lives and livelihoods of Malaysians and by implementing good governance, transparency, accountability, separation of powers, independence of the PDRM, MACC, AGC, EC, etc., an end to Pakatan Harapan’s cronyism and nepotism, and delivering all those promises made by Pakatan Harapan but never delivered in the 22 months they were in power.
