A betrayal of King and country

 

From Rahim Zainuddin

Unsuspecting, ever-hopeful Malaysians would have woken up to a shock this morning.

Last night, Umno’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob was nominated by Barisan Nasional as the next prime minister. Rumour has it that he will now emerge with Bersatu’s Hamzah Zainudin as his deputy. More shockingly, the rumour mill is abound with gossip that outgoing prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin may re-emerge as minister mentor.

This will allow Umno, Bersatu and PAS, through a game of musical chairs, to re-emerge as the country’s new administration.

What a betrayal that would be.

First, a betrayal of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who only yesterday called on all political parties to discard “old politics” and form a unity government to safeguard the health and welfare of the rakyat and to re-energise the economy.

I wonder what the King will have to say, and I look forward to the next press release from Istana Negara.

I have nothing personal against Ismail. I do not even know him. He has spent the last year in the public eye and, like most Malaysians, I have not been impressed with the way he has carried himself and performed his duties.

But this has nothing to do with performance.

Through his nomination, Umno has shown once and for all that it is totally deaf to the will of the people.

Umno has shown that it is only interested in power for its own sake and for all its trappings, even at a time when the rakyat are suffering grievously in terms of health and struggling to maintain their livelihood.

Despite this, Umno did not have the conscience to do the right thing for the rakyat.

Umno did not have the patience to show us, the rakyat, that it was prepared to suffer with us.

Umno did not have the courage to consider spending even a short stint of one year in opposition acting as the rakyat’s voice.

This can only be because Umno lacks the ability to do so. It would be a much easier ride into the next general election if it stays in power.

This is not about Malay unity. That experiment has already failed us.

The time has come to get rid of this brand of politics once and for all. Taking the interest of the rakyat, the King has already called for it. Daulat Tuanku!

Our political masters, however, have shown that they are not willing to listen to the King’s advice.

Maybe, our beloved King can invoke his constitutional powers and intervene immediately. I will leave the constitutional lawyers to ponder on that.

Yet, even if the King’s intervention is not possible, we will not be discouraged.

The rakyat will remember and cleanse the nation of this brand of politics once and for all at the ballot box.

I expect all three parties, Umno (including its stooges MCA and MIC), Bersatu and PAS to be wiped out at the next general election if this is how they treat the people.

Malaysia will be better off. - FMT

Rahim Zainuddin is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.