An open letter to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin

Firstly, let me congratulate you on assuming the position of the eighth prime minister (PM) of Malaysia. Your very first address to the nation as PM was most interesting. I am just a humble rakyat and I will admit, perhaps not very smart. However, I do have a few questions related to your speech.

In it, you mention that the political crisis started after Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as prime minister. Is it not a fact that Mahathir only resigned after certain members of PKR as well as your party, Bersatu, decided to leave the Pakatan Harapan coalition and thus, rendered his majority in parliament insufficient?

This, to me, is the reason that Mahathir resigned. Once a prime minister does not have the requisite majority, it is the only right and honourable thing to do. Your speech, however, makes it seem as if you or your party had no part in the resignation of Mahathir.

Would it be fair for me to say that your party needs to take some sort of responsibility for causing the collapse of Harapan together with the 11 PKR MPs (PKR 11) that left the coalition? What were the reasons for leaving Harapan, a coalition that you and your party campaigned for in 2018 and won the election on their ticket? In fact, is it not correct that you actually ran in the 2018 elections under the PKR banner? So what caused the change of heart to betray the people's mandate?

The next question I have is why your party agreed to go into a coalition with Umno and PAS? I followed the campaign trail in 2018, and I recall your stirring and uplifting speeches where you mentioned that Umno and PAS were spreading lies (fitnah) using religious sentiments. You even referred to Umno as thieves (perompak) and also PAS as using the name of religion but prepared to kiss the mouths of thieves. You used the term "dua kali lima" or two peas in a pod to describe Umno and PAS.

How do you reconcile the fact that you once aggressively campaigned against these two parties and then joined forces with them to get majority support? If you were so against them two years ago, why the sudden change of heart? I am totally confused by this and personally cannot reconcile this.

You go on to say that as a start, you promise to elect a cabinet that is clean, with integrity and with calibre. Again, I ask the same question, how do you form a cabinet out of people that only two years ago you referred to as thieves and "dua kali lima"? You may have forgotten making these statements on the campaign trail but I have not. There are even videos to refresh your memory that you may refer to. Or perhaps I am just naive to think that leopards can't change their spots - even after two years. Perhaps you have a grander plan that my simple mind cannot fathom.

Your statements that you will be a prime minister for all regardless of race and social status were encouraging. The plans to focus on health and education are indeed heartening. It would be interesting to hear your plans on this. You also go on to say that you understand that the Rakyat wants a country that is stable, peaceful and prosperous. Would it be unfair to say that the actions of bringing down the previous government created instability and also caused the stock market to plunge? How do you propose to stop this from happening again seeing that the majority in parliament is still being disputed?

State governments have also fallen and been taken over by the new coalition. This is again clearly against the mandate of the rakyat and subsequently, causes instability. How do you explain or reconcile this? How do we stop party hopping from happening because demonstrably, party-hopping that results in the downfall of a government and betrays the mandate of the rakyat is ethically and morally wrong? It creates instability and it affects prosperity. After all, RM43 billion was lost in a single day on the KL bourse. Am I naive to think that this wouldn't have happened if not for the political crisis?

All the parties in the new coalition, save for Bersatu and the PKR 11 were not given the mandate by the people. As I stated earlier, Bersatu and the PKR 11 campaigned and won in GE14 under the Harapan coalition. It is pure irony that those that lost in the 2018 elections are now part of the ruling coalition.

The way I see it, most of our MPs are all self-serving and self-absorbed and dare I say, only interested in power and position. That needs to change. Does the mandate given by the rakyat not mean anything? Does this not dilute or even nullify the power of therRakyat?

Yes, I have many questions, and I believe many other rakyat have the same questions, if not more. As you are supposed to serve the rakyat that would mean, in my simple mind, that your actions are answerable to the rakyat. We are your paymasters and not the other way around.

With all due respect sir, I humbly request for some answers.

In conclusion, I wish you all the best and hope that we can move forward together to make this country a better place for all of us. - Mkini