YOURSAY | ‘Shahril sounds reasonable by acknowledging the good that Harapan did on freedom of speech...’
6th Generation Immigrant: This is a start of sense and logic in politics proper, well at least in the bold statement by Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan that the decision not to pursue charges against movie producer Riza Abdul Aziz and former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman will affect Umno’s image.
However, whether it is from his heart remains to be seen. Such strong soothing and seemingly genuine statements have been made by various leaders from all political parties before to win support and votes, and then quickly swept under the carpet after that.
At the end of the day, such statements mean nothing to these politicians.
The nation failed the biggest test of integrity when Pakatan Harapan reneged on the people's manifesto after taking office - in this case, the majority of the nation was taken for a ride - so for us to take this new statement with a pinch of salt is expected as we have been fooled before.
The Wakandan: This is what we call damage control. What else can Shahril say? Nothing can adequately justify the Riza deal and Musa was not even brought to trial. Nobody believes the reason why they were being discharged or acquitted.
It makes Umno look bad but then Umno isn’t viewed as good anyway. Shahril makes himself sound reasonable by acknowledging the good that Harapan did on freedom of speech while at the same time wants Umno to change.
Is it a political statement by an Umno apologist? He can do more if he is really sincere and start with Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh being questioned by the police for asking a legitimate question as an elected representative. He should condemn that.
Better Msia: Indeed, is Shahril on a damage control mission and making the case for the recent dropping of the charges? Umno’s image cannot be saved; those in charge and senior party members will not change their old ways.
When you have a president facing trial for corruption and money laundering, it reflects on the members’ indifference to integrity.
The comparison with former finance minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption withdrawal case is no reference point. Nevertheless, the rakyat will equally not forget Harapan for this as they preached about rule of law - however weak the case, they should have let the courts decide.
Malaysian Bulldog: Finally, someone in Umno who speaks rationally and credibly.
The court decisions have not helped and I believe most, if not all, rational-thinking Malaysians will believe that the dropping of charges in the Musa case is terrible and no one believes he is without guilt.
As for Riza, it just comes across as a political move and again, bad. So hopefully, Shahril is a sign of structural and behavioural changes in Umno.
Undecided: “To be fair to Harapan, on balance, of course as an Umno person and as a Malaysian who has Umno persuasions, I think we would do a better job but there are certain things that Harapan did that were laudable,” he said.
Good statement from Shahril. You won't get this from the older leaders. There are younger moderates in Umno who are struggling to reform the party but power is in the hands of the older leaders in Umno who are set in their questionable ways.
Tulus Ikhlas: Shahril, in other words, the Harapan government did very well indeed given the fact it was only running Putrajaya for less than two years.
Given more time to complete the term as mandated by the rakyat, Shahril might even be tempted to ditch Umno and move over to Harapan instead.
GrayCondor1956: Young man, you are getting it right. Now all the young ones with equivalent views need to get together and get the old stuck-in-the-mud leaders out. Then we will have greater hope for a better Malaysia.
OrangePanther1466: Shahril should be the new face and leadership of Umno. I personally am not against Umno, only against the kleptocrat and corrupt members of the party.
Umno should return to its founding roots and reject extremists, abuse of power, corruption and promote transparency. I will then welcome Umno and its coalition back in government.
Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants to steer Umno back to basics although he’s not part of the party. It's a noble effort but a bit late.
Daylight: To be fair, there are surely many good apples in Umno but they are overpowered by rotten ones who joined the party to enrich themselves on the pretext of serving bangsa, agama and negara (race, religion and country).
On the other hand, you also have rotten apples in PKR who shout “reformasi” but backstabbed their leaders to join the backdoor government.
And in PAS, they portray religious piety on the outside but willing to work with rotten apples in Umno for self-gratification. Unfortunately, many Malaysians don’t mind such apples.
SHGC: Shahril, while what you said is commendable, you seem to be a minority voice as this is a culture deeply embedded in the DNA of Umno.
You think it can be changed? Also, do note that the PM is not even from Umno, yet Umno is showing this kind of behaviour already. What hope do we have?
Another Komentar: This is the iteration that Umno is divided between supporters of former party president Najib Abdul Razak and "reformists" who want to see the end of the old Umno so it can move on.
The reformists are still the underdogs as they lost out during the 2018 party elections. Principled politicians would have left Umno long before. But Umno still yields some kind of fascination for its members; it still has it perks to keep them loyal, I suppose.
After 60 years, many politicians still believe that being part of Umno Youth is the next best thing.
Shovelnose: That's a laudable position but I worry how long Shahril can last in that toxic environment.
Of course, change from within is more effective, if the swim against the current is not too exhaustive.
BrownCheetah9736: Thank you for your honesty and fair point, Shahril.
Not only this, please tell your colleagues that we are moving back to the Gestapo dark ages whereby different instruments are now used to silence and intimidate dissent and the press.
Jack N Jill: I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this. Anyway, this is great. I honestly don’t care whether it is Perikatan Nasional or Harapan.
My hope is we can restore justice and integrity to our judiciary system. - Mkini
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