CHIN TONG IS NOT WRONG – UMNO’S DESTRUCTION IS A ‘GREAT ACHIEVEMENT’ FOR MALAYSIA’S DEMOCRACY: ‘MIDDLE-GROUND MALAYS WILL NEVER RETURN SO LONG AS ZAHID IS PRESIDENT & NAJIB STILL HOLDS SWAY’

PAKATAN Harapan supporters must exercise patience in the “aftershock” from Umno crossovers to ruling parties, said DAP national political education director Liew Chin Tong.

Acknowledging that many are angry at PH for accepting rivals whom they had fought against, he urged supporters to allow the situation to unfold.

“My appeal to DAP and PH supporters is that we need patience in this aftershock period,” he said in a statement today.

“Yes, we must speak out without fear or favour, but we need to work together with our PH partners to see this transition period through. 

“Instead of hurling insults, we should persevere with our aim of building a New Malaysia, where every citizen will share the benefits of a peaceful, equitable and more prosperous nation.”

He acknowledge the negative sentiments among PH supporters following news of Umno defectors jumping ship.

To date, 17 lawmakers from the Barisan Nasional lynchpin have defected since the May 9 general election.

Bersatu has accepted three of them and is vetting the applications of other MPs.

Among the more controversial defectors is former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, who has submitted his Bersatu membership application. He has had statutory rape charges against him dropped, causing DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s 12-month imprisonment for sedition, and was convicted and fined for screening a sex tape that allegedly involved PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Liew, mentioning Rahim in passing, warned that the latter’s admission into Bersatu will hurt PH.

“One glaring example is the sleazy and tainted politician Rahim Thamby Chik applying to join Bersatu. He is a liability and doesn’t add value to PH’s cause.”

The deputy defence minister said PH supporters must recognise that underlying these defections is a transition taking place following BN’s collapse after its 14th general election thrashing.

“We are undergoing the first-ever transition – political, economic and social – in our nation’s history. The collapse of the former authoritarian regime could not be an easy exercise.

“The disintegration of Umno in its current form is actually a great achievement for Malaysian democracy. Since Umno is no longer fighting its original cause of 1946, it is better for a new platform to exist for the benefit of all Malaysians, including Malays.  

“The larger question is how do we – as PH, as a society and as a nation – deal with the crumbling of Umno? We must accept the fact that (GE14) was a massive political earthquake and tsunami, and therefore, there are bound to be aftershocks.”

He said there are different elements in the said transition involving “middle-ground” Malays who would “never return” to Umno as long as Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the party’s president and former prime minister Najib Razak remains influential.

He noted the groups within Umno split between supporting Zahid and Najib, who gave up the presidency after the May 9 polls.

The transition period also involves Sabah asserting itself aggressively, as seen in the exodus of elected representatives from the state Umno, causing the collapse of the party there, added Liew.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/