Otai Reformis tells Harapan to not scapegoat Anwar for Malacca polls

 

Staunch Anwar Ibrahim supporter group Otai Reformis today urged the leaders of Pakatan Harapan components to stop blaming the opposition chief over their failure in the recent Malacca state election.

Its secretary Abdul Razak Ismail told a press conference that the leaders should conduct a post-mortem to identify what had caused their defeat in the election instead of making Anwar a scapegoat.

"We are upset with the strong criticisms that came from among Harapan party leaders who are pressuring Anwar Ibrahim to resign as the Harapan chairperson over the failure of Harapan candidates in the Malacca election.

"We are of the view that these Harapan leaders should do a post-mortem to find out the real causes behind the defeat.

"They should do this instead of making Anwar their scapegoat, who they can put all the blame on," said Razak.

Also at the press conference held in Petaling Jaya was NGO Gabungan Bertindak Memorandum Rakyat Malaysia (GBMRM) president Mustapa Mansor.

Razak also chided a statement made by DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke, who recently called for Harapan to move away from its past belief that there must be a common logo and prime minister candidate to win an election.

"We strongly criticise Anthony Loke's abruptness in suggesting that Anwar is replaced, and at the same time, we are also wondering who would the replacement be - a leader who has the level of charisma that can challenge Anwar's leadership.

"It is illogical that all Harapan top leaders had taken credit for winning the 14th general election, but all fingers are now pointed to Anwar alone when Harapan lost the Malacca state election.

"That is unfair and annoying," he said.

Razak also questioned why Harapan leaders did not blame the previous Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad when they lost several by-elections when the coalition was in power for 22 months.

"When Harapan was in the federal government for 22 months, it had lost several elections namely Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Tanjung Piai.

"But no Harapan component leaders pointed fingers at Mahathir, and instead shut their mouth until the Harapan government collapsed in Feb 2020 due to the Sheraton Move," he said. - Mkini