A shocking admission or a sudden realisation? Opposition MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, a major figure in local politics and the daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, says she is still traumatised by what happened when opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan was in power from 2018 to Feb 2020.
For that matter, she also believes the opposition should not expect to win the next General Elections because the people are also still traumatised by the PH’s performance in power.
“I’m being very realistic because, to me, it will take time for our ‘product differentiation to succeed. Because the people and, even myself, are still traumatised over what happened when PH was in government for 22 months” she said.
Speaking to a local Malay language news portal, she says, “I feel that it won’t be easy for PH to win in the coming general election, and we have to be prepared to lose two rounds (of general elections) before the people can accept us again.”
In reality, she argues, the opposition Pakatan Harapan would face a long road of emptiness and should be prepared to lose at least two general elections before regaining the power it lost in 2020.
She is not alone in this belief and grief over the opposition’s fate.
Rafizi Ramli, another popular opposition member who was sidelined during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure as Prime Minister under the PH, says the opposition must restore its dignity.
Nurul Izzah also feels that PH must become an opposition group “with dignity,” offering voters something new but more realistic than what they offered in the last GE in 2018.
Rafizi, who is vying for Keadilan’s deputy leader post, had advised PH to be realistic about its chances in GE15, saying it would be better to remain in opposition “with dignity” than to boast about winning the general election.
While Rafizi’s statement did not sit well with other party members, who argued that the party cannot give up so quickly and must be pragmatic, Nurul’s statement that the voters and some Keadilan members, including herself, were traumatised by events during the PH reign will be remembered as a testament to the PH’s failure to govern.
Bickering ministers
There was a lot of internal bickering, and one of the worst acts of violence in Malaysia happened when the PH was in power.
Following a confrontation between devotees and a group of armed men at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Seafield, Subang Jaya, violent skirmishes erupted early on a Monday morning. Two people were hurt (one died), and 18 cars were damaged. (Watch the video below).
The government of Mahathir Mohamad took the wrong turn in most events in the country, going, at times, against those that put them in power.
The country witnessed an increase in demonstrations and remarks by government officials (ministers and members of the ruling party) that aided the Umno and the Islamist PAS opposition is rallying together.
Worse, Mahathir’s answer to charges that he intended to stay in power beyond the agreed-upon time span did not help.
Mahathir disputed this, but he also changed his claims about his plans to stay in power, demonstrating no willingness to resign as agreed with PH leaders.
All of these created a sense of mistrust towards the PH, and it probably also caused its collapse in Feb 2020.
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