An open letter to my fellow Harapan leaders

Enough of the posturing, chest puffing, and grandstanding. All of this started with a lack of communication within the coalition. Regardless of whose fault it is, the root cause must be addressed.

Openly asking for one of our own minister's resignation is neither smart nor in the spirit of solidarity and democracy. Engaging in a tit-for-tat through the media certainly does not endear our parties to a wider audience. Attacking leaders of our coalition partners may earn a few claps from friends, but it is no material proof that we are any more principled.

The question here is, whether or not those who have been involved in this public spat have first engaged those they are critiquing through internal party channels?

Instead of airing our critiques towards each other through the media, Pakatan Harapan leaders should first and foremost be talking to one another, either face-to-face or through internal party channels.

Implementing procedural norm

This is not a mere matter of discipline, and neither is this an attempt to sweep anything under the carpet. This is certainly not intended to silence any Harapan rank-and-file elected officials. This is common courtesy and simple protocol; common sense and simple procedural norm in any organisation.

Would you - a manager in finance - air your grouses about your fellow manager in human resources, through a public statement released to the press, without speaking to your respective directors?

Would you go first to the police and issue a legal letter of demand if your sibling said something outrageous against your sensitivities?

I echo DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang's call for a total ceasefire. Whilst it is a great way to get published in newspapers and web portals, and it is indeed a fantastic way to garner praises from party members and rile up the gallery, it is neither productive nor helpful for the larger agenda of reform.

Let's try to be the partners that we are. Let's train our united guns, not even at Umno and BN, but at the root cause of the problems that common Malaysians are facing.

Leadership is what our nation and our people need right now; therefore we must exercise leadership of nothing less than the highest calibre.

It should be nothing less than the following three key agendas: improving the livelihood and reducing the burden of the people, especially the B40; freeing Malaysians from the shackles of the middle-income trap; and preparing Malaysian youths for the post-fourth industrial revolution economy of tomorrow with training and education that is fit for it.

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HOWARD LEE is Harapan Youth deputy chief.