‘Half my soul is dead’: PKR MP speaks his mind after Anwar ‘trades principles for power’ in Cabinet line-up
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim pens a poem in open opposition to the prime minister’s decision to go back on a pledge to form a ‘clean Cabinet’.
(MalaysiaNow) – Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim has urged Anwar Ibrahim to stick to his principles, in the first public sign of friction among newly elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs over the prime minister’s failure to fulfil his pledge not to include scandal-tainted leaders in his Cabinet.
Hassan, in a poem, recalled how Anwar had constantly assured voters that he would not “trade principles for power”.
Hassan said armed with the full conviction of this assurance, he had spread the message “to every corner of this beloved land”, urging people to support the call of reformasi.
“Yesterday I could still hear, you said we would not trade principles for power, so I believed,” he wrote.
“But today, I am surprised by completely foreign phrases. I hear people talking about Machiavellianism and realpolitik.”
Hassan said his stand could be interpreted as “naive”, adding that he had now awakened from a “bad dream”.
He said he felt ashamed that he decided to lock away pamphlets and texts of speeches of the past quarter of a century, in which he had promoted the call for reformasi, referring to Anwar’s political battle cry in his two-decade fight against the Umno-led government.
“Now I’m ashamed of myself, I am ashamed to say those sacred words again,” he added.
