Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin today warned of the danger of having a dominant political party ruling the country, saying that the BN era showed how such a system led to a systemic rot in Malaysia.
In his launching speech at Gerakan's 50th annual general meeting this morning, he said consolidation of power enjoyed by BN prior to its fall in 2018 saw abuse of power and corruption becoming rampant due to the absence of strong checks and balances.
"In the early days, such a system that was able to create political stability was seen as being effective to spur the country's development.
"However, years after years, the political power became more focused on the individuals who are leading the party and the government. Party members had to agree with every decision and action taken by party leaders, including when what they did was not necessarily right.
"It even saw corrupt practices and violation of the law committed by some of the party leaders, but other leaders had to keep quiet because they were scared that they would get kicked out of the party that was dominant in the government. Not many were willing to take the risk to say the truth.
"Even more unfortunate, some had joined these leaders to commit corruption and abuse of power because they thought that they would be protected as long as they continue to support the leaders who are dominant.
"These people thought that they could get away with it. This led to wrongdoings becoming more rampant and done with the blessing of party members," he said.
Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president, was a former Umno leader until he was sacked from the party in 2016 following a fallout with the then Umno president Najib Razak over the 1MDB scandal.
He was also the deputy prime minister, serving in Najib's cabinet then.
The "dominant party" system collapsed in 2018 when BN was defeated in the 14th general election, Muhyiddin added, and resulted in the country now seeing political parties having to work together in order to form a government.
He said there is no single party in Malaysia today that can claim they are holding the dominant power to do anything they want, without taking the views of others.
This is seen in the current federal government, which is formed with a combination of several major political coalitions and parties including BN and PN.
Muhyiddin said this was why PN - which he described as a party that upholds the principles of integrity - could set a condition for the ruling coalition today to toe the line in regards to anti-corruption matters.
"They include a condition that the government continues to fight corruption and power abuse, and also not to meddle with the judiciary system. The courts and prosecution agency must be independent to uphold justice without any attempt to disrupt the process so that some people can be protected.
"The government also cannot bow down to pressure from a group of kleptocrats who are championing their own benefits," he said.
Muhyiddin also warned the government that PN will take action if the principles are not observed and result in kleptocrats returning to power.
"If this ever happens, we must decide the most honourable thing to do and this includes returning the mandate to the people when the time comes." - Mkini
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