“Eight years ago, Najib fell and for some, it is time to remember”

 

ON May 9, 2018, the government of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak fell in a much-contested election, and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became the prime minister for the shortest period in his career.

It was a historic day, and former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli is reminiscing about the great event for Pakatan Harapan (PH).

In a post of Facebook, he said what was unthinkable became a reality, that is the fall of Barisan Nasional and of Najib after decades in power for the UMNO.

“Eight years ago today, Malaysians queued up at schools just like these.

“Most of us didn’t actually think it would happen. We hoped. We showed up. But deep down, many of us weren’t sure a single vote could change 61 years of the same government. And then it did. We did it.

“Six years on, it’s hard to know how to feel about all of it,” he wrote.

He then mentioned how the PH government lasted only 22 months, while the country had three prime ministers without a single election.

“Another vote that gave us a unity government that, honestly, still doesn’t feel like what people queued up for back in 2018.”

Once more, he lambasted the Madani government for failed promises as reforms are half-done or quietly forgotten.

“I keep hearing the same thing. I’ve given up. The government disappoints me. The opposition isn’t any better.”

“I don’t think that’s apathy. I think that’s what exhaustion sounds like after years of hoping. But here’s the thing about  political cycles,” he said of conversations he hears from family and friends.

His hope is that in the end, the people who are saying it is the end for them and  politics, they end up back at the polling station.

“Pen in hand, doing the one thing that actually changed something once before. We’re getting close to that moment again. And if 2018 taught us anything, it’s that we’re more capable of surprising ourselves than we think.”

Rafizi was interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over a deal that was backed by Putrajaya, and there are talks that he may soon be charged in the ARM Holdings deal.

But this possibility did not deter him from reminding the public how it felt in 2018 and perhaps, how it will feel in the upcoming General Election when they vote again. —  Focus Malaysia