LETTER | Recently, we have been witnessing more and more leaders from the former BN regime joining Pakatan Harapan.

I must say here that this is a worrying trend. This is because one wonder’s how can they contribute to the nation when previously they were seen to be complicit with so many scandals and abuse of power under the BN regime.

Our Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has even said that party hopping is fine with him. Some Harapan politicians have even said that these party hoppers have changed their ways and as the Malays say "sudah bertaubat" (have repented).

Well at the risk of sounding judgemental, I wonder how these party hoppers change their ways so fast every time when they lose their position and power!

If we continue accepting recycled leaders who have a record of playing divisive and hypocritical politics for the sake of full-filling their own agenda instead of the people’s agenda then the country is not going to move forward.

I left the DAP in 2017 after the party formed an alliance with Mahathir because I knew at that time that he is not capable of reform. I told some of my party colleagues then that we can overthrow BN even without Mahathir, but no one believed me.

Now you can see for yourself what the country has become. Are we embracing reform? The simple answer is no, not at all. We are still where we were pre GE14.

Our elected leaders continue to play up issues about race, religion,1MDB and Najib, but the people must realize that it is just a ploy to divert the attention of the people from their blunders and failings, particularly about their manifesto.

I have told many people that Najib is facing criminal charges and he’s innocent until proven guilty. That chapter is closed and the courts will decide whether he is guilty or not in due time. And in the meantime life goes on and we the people have to keep our elected government in check.

Mahathir was picked to lead this country forward, but he is still stuck with the old mentality. He wrote the book ‘Malay Dilemma’ decades ago, but he continues to put Malays in the same dilemma decades later. He accuses the Malays of being lazy and at the same time refuses to put in place reforms which can change the mind and thinking of the Malays and propel the Malays forward.

For example, why are Class F license for bumiputera contractors still in place? Is it not time for this licence to be abolished so that Malay contractors will not have the rent-seeking mentality and will be able to compete. This and among other race-based policies are causing Malays to be laid back with no motivation to stand on their feet.

I am sure Mahathir being an experienced leader is fully aware of this, but he chooses to ignore it and instead picks on the Malays and treat them as his punching bag. He consistently refuses to break away from the old narrative of the Malays being lazy and is not capable of progressing without handouts from the government. This is because as the saying goes 'one can’t teach an old dog new tricks'.

It is for these reasons I believe that the country needs a new set of leaders propounding a new political narrative and not picking up recycled leaders with the old mind-sets. The country now needs to be steered in the right path by good and sensible leaders. The way we are moving now is very far from that because we are stuck with the wrong leaders.

DAP, once a vociferous party, has now become like the MCA that they used to deride! Where does that leave us? DAP and their partners are going to sing the same tune again and again in GE15 about 1MDB and Najib! That’s an old and stale story in my book.

We, as the people, should realise and ask ourselves, have they owned up to their promises of reform to bring the country forward? I really hope things will change before GE15, but with the current leaders that we have and the political narrative that they propound I am not confident that change will happen.

Malaysia needs a courageous leader who will not hesitate to do the right thing to move the country forward. Some have said that Anwar Ibrahim is that leader and I being an optimistic person in the meantime will keep my fingers crossed.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.