TG PIAI POLLS | The call to teach Pakatan Harapan a lesson in this Saturday's Tanjung Piai by-election in Johor is misguided and misplaced, according to Lim Kit Siang.
“For we should not be trifling with the rights and future of our children and children's children,” he warned.
The DAP veteran argued this is because no other political coalition is committed to make Malaysia a top world-class nation.
Should Harapan be defeated, he said it would be an acknowledgement of the strength and power of the politics of extremism in race and religion, as well as of lies, fake news and hate speech and that politicians must pander to the extremism of race and religion to survive.
“Such consequences will be dire and far-reaching and will be detrimental to the growth of moderate politics of the centre in Malaysia, based on the appeal as to how to unite all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, in their capacity as Malaysian citizens rather than setting one race against another or one religion against another.
“The Harapan government is not a perfect government. We have committed missteps and made mistakes, but we are prepared to make amends,” he said in a speech last night.
Therefore, Lim made an urgent appeal to the voters in the parliamentary constituency to assist Harapan in “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat” and not allow the coalition to suffer a major setback in its efforts to transform the nation.
Lim (photo) said if Harapan's Karmaine Sardini defeated Muafakat Nasional and MCA candidate Wee Jeck Seng, this would mean the voters rejected global kleptocracy as well as possessed the stamina to continue the long journey to make Malaysia a top world-class nation.
The Iskandar Puteri MP also complained that Harapan's adversaries mounted a “despicable and unprincipled” campaign for this by-election.
“In the Malay areas, Malays were told that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was my puppet, that the Malays and Muslims had lost their rights and position in Malaysia.
“But in Chinese areas, the Chinese were told that I was nothing but Mahathir's stooge and that the Chinese had lost their rights and position in Malaysia,” he added.
Lim said Muafakat Nasional and MCA are not competing with Harapan as to which coalition has the best policies but want to wreck the government despite having nothing constructive to propose for the future of the nation.
In view of this, he encouraged outstation voters to return to cast their ballots to send a clear message that Malaysians do not want BN to return to power in Putrajaya with PAS in Muafakat Nasional.
Lim also trained his guns on his favourite target, former premier Najib Abdul Razak, and commented on the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordering the latter to enter his defence on the charges related to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
“If Najib had walked out of the Kuala Lumpur High Court a free man, acquitted of all charges of corruption and abuse of power, all efforts to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world would have come to a halt.
“It would have emboldened all who have claimed that the 1MDB scandal is fake news, although it was recently listed by Transparency International as one of the 25 corruption scandals that 'shook the world' in the past 25 years,” he added.
