MAHATHIR HAS ONLY ‘CHOPPED OFF THE TREE & BRANCHES’: UMNO ROOTS STILL ALIVE & GROWING STRONG – SO LONG AS DR M & BERSATU PRACTICE OLD POLITICAL WAYS

THE Barisan Nasional victory in the Cameron Highlands by-election on the weekend has attracted numerous analyses. Many of the opinions and warnings issued do hold water, in my opinion.

Prime Minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was right, too, in stating that economic and living conditions must be addressed by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

Everything said, we need courage and honesty to be mindful of the potent force that hides below the tip of the political iceberg.

It is very clear that the voting population is more than a reflection of eligible voters. They represent the true sentiments of the entire nation of citizens.

With a little more than a 50% win by BN in the by-election and the PH government’s seizure of Putrajaya last May also with just over a 50% victory, the message is very clear: This country may be stuck in a yo-yo pendulum swing between PH and BN in the years ahead.

That is not going to herald stability and progress for the people. Policies will be made; policies will be dismantled; accusations and court cases will be mounted. And the nation will suffer.

Such swings will permanently divide the nation into one that is at war within – and probably along race, religion and territorial lines.

Hence, after the people gave an unthinkable victory to a BN alternative for the first time in the nation’s political history, it is critical that PH gets down to serious soul searching, having clocked some nine months of attempted governing since GE14.

The only defining parameter that can give PH a 60% or higher victory over its political opponents in the next General Election is its readiness to fulfil its election manifesto regardless of the circumstances be.

Further, PH cannot afford to keep losing or even winning any future by-elections by a mere 50% as it will further erode confidence in the much peddled “new” Malaysia credo.

There are far too many fundamentals that evoke the sentiment of good governance that have yet to be experienced and shared across the many divides in the country.

The roots of Umno are still much alive even though the tree and its branches may (as some say) have been chopped off.

Justice and rule of law can only be saved and made to work full throttle if the government since GE14 can convincingly tackle corruption.

As Prof Dr Terrence Gomez rightfully pointed out, for as long as the very machinery (government-linked companies and government-linked investment companies) created to address the plight of citizens is not made transparent, accountable and can stand the test of public perception, PH is teetering on the edge of a dangerous cliff.

Anwar must know, too, that the tip of the iceberg is economy and cost of living. But the crux is that which drifts below: race, religion, rights.

People want a capable, effective, uniting, and progressive government that can free this nation from class-structured citizenship and that can let the economy thrive on level playing fields free of corruption in any shade or shape.

J.D. LOVRENCIEAR

– ANN