September 16 seems to be an important date in this country. With the proposal of the opposition fronts to declare the ‘sacred’ date a public holiday as a remembrance of the day Sabah and Sarawak joined the federation 46 years ago, people cannot help but speculate on the significance of the date if rumours of an imminent takeover by Anwar Ibrahim are to be believed.
The feeling on the ground is Barisan Nasional which is led by an inept prime minister is suffering from credibility problems and have lost their support from the public ever since they were thrashed at the Permatang Pauh by-election. Morale on the ground is low and BN leaders seem to be losing the battle to win the hearts and minds of the voters that ditched them in the last general election.
The last budget speech by our finance minister cum prime minister failed to move the market and improve the economy as our stock market is still reeling from meltdowns as foreign investors cash out due to the political instability in this country.
Anwar in Parliament will galvanise his fellow MPs to attack government policies which do not help the public and the government which is under siege will have to watch their back as fellow MPs might abandon ship and joined the opposition fronts in the coming days.
To be fair, Pak Lah is a decent man but being nice in politics won’t get you far. The public was let down when promises which were made to wipe out corruptions and abuse of power by the ruling elite were not fulfilled. In fact, under Pak Lah’s leadership, it seems to have gotten from bad to worse.
Even the arrest of top government civil servants and politicians for corruption by ACA have not earned the government more public support as it is a little bit to late to reform the government. Even the proposal to reform the judiciary is moving at a snail’s pace as people in power, whose hands are soiled, would not want an independence judiciary which can land them in jail for their misdeeds.
The big loss during the last general election would have caused prime ministers in other countries to resign to pave ways for new blood. But surprisingly, Pak Lah still wants to cling to power and will only resign in two years. At the rate it is going, one would not be surprised if his chosen successor is be the leader of the Opposition if the present regime falls within the next few days.
Umno, the bedrock of BN, is at its weakest now and other component parties who want to survive the new political landscape might abandon the party to save their political careers. Sticking together through think and thin is an old policy, as MPs now would rather join a winning team which has public support than cling on to an old ship which is slowly but surely sinking.
Sabah and Sarawak MPs are strongly rumored to be interested in joining the Opposition but one cannot dismiss the possibility that other BN MPs from the peninsula might jump to the other ship to.
It is foolhardy for the BN to stick to the old ways of doing business as they are out of touch with public sentiment on the ground. Young and educated voters are leaving them in droves and only the older generation, which grew up with BN will stick by them.
Time is of the essence here and as Anwar has staked his reputation on taking over in Sept 16, he should make sure the promise to form government is kept or he risks losing his credibility.
The public has nothing to lose if a new government is formed comes September 16. After suffering so much hardship due to the bad economy and endemic corruption, what is there to lose sleep about if the present regime is replaced with a new one?
After all, if the Opposition fails to deliver when they form the new government, voters will show them the door in the next general elections.
This is an interesting time in politic as our country is at a crossroads to be a better nation. If not now, when? If not Anwar, who? Let us change for the better.
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