LETTER | Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was absolutely responsible for glueing together the four main partners of Pakatan Harapan - DAP, Amanah, PKR and Bersatu - to kick out the longest-serving BN government from power in the 14th general election (GE14).

The biggest mistake made by Harapan was to invite newcomer Bersatu into the fold and lay trust on the grand old master of politics Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Muhyiddin Yassin who instead of sticking on with the Harapan coalition when Mahathir quit, joined hands in a power grab with the support of the very parties and MPs the voters rejected in GE14.

Why put the blame on Anwar alone when DAP and Amanah leaders equally were at fault in bringing back Mahathir and Muhyiddin's newly formed Bersatu into Harapan?

The removal of Anwar as Harapan chairperson or PM candidate may backfire if its partners pursue a "grand coalition plan" that could include Mahathir and his new party Pejuang.

Today, if the country is in a chaotic situation, it's everyone's guess who is absolutely responsible for this.

The removal of Anwar whose charisma is still unmatched in the opposition coalition will destroy the chances of Harapan winning GE15.

Many are blind to the attempts made to split Harapan which is strong due to Anwar.

Any grand coalition plan should be one by Harapan and not by any other party or parties. Harapan should invite parties from East Malaysia and perhaps Gerakan as well as the newly formed party by former minister P Waythamoorthy, the Malaysian Advancement Party (Map).

This is the time for Harapan to unite as an expended coalition with Anwar remaining as its PM candidate by forgetting some mistakes he made lately and moving on.

Keep in mind the years of struggle by Anwar who initiated the reform agenda, the sacrifices he made, the agony and pain of long years in prison. These should never be forgotten so easily by DAP, Amanah and PKR.

Harapan partners should not fall for the conspiracy theories being put forward to break Harapan by sowing discord against Anwar who is still the pillar of the reform agenda, something that no other leader in the opposition was able to do relentlessly from the time he was removed by Mahathir. 

What we have now is the worst kind of politics which is filled with hate due to corruption, abuse of power, race and religious ruling of the day.

The people and Harapan need to fight hard for the reform agenda initiated by Anwar and win back the government of the people in GE15.

Anwar still has a huge number of diehard followers.

The people are the bosses, not the politicians, and they want to benefit from good governance.

DAP and Amanah, fight on and please stop any divisive plans to not unite under Anwar.

The writer is president of the Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba).

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