Kit Siang hopes Johor polls can stop Malaysia becoming Venezuela of Asean

Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang acknowledged a sense of disillusionment among Malaysians following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government which was reflected in the low voter turnout at the Malacca and Sarawak polls.

However, the DAP supremo expressed hope that the way Malaysians came together at the 2018 general election to "save Malaysia" can be rekindled in the upcoming Johor polls.

"Can Malaysians unite and rise to the occasion a second time in four years to save Malaysia in the 15th General Election from being the Venezuela of Asean?

"This is a task which will be more uphill and difficult than in the 14th General Election for Malaysians are now consumed by disappointment, dejection, despondency and even a sense of hopelessness –with a sense of resignation that nothing will ever change.

"Do we give up and surrender to the kleptocrats, kakistocrats and let Malaysia become the Venezuela of Asean in the coming decades?" Lim said in a statement.

Lim noted that Venezuela was once the top 20 richest country in the world but now is mired in a humanitarian crisis, with the state facing bankruptcy, the people in poverty and 10 percent of the country leaving in despair.

He added that Malaysia too was on a slide, citing Malaysia's worst two-year decline in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (TI CPI).

Malaysia was ranked 54 in the TI CPI in 2012 when a new scoring system was introduced.

‘Sick Man of Asia’

Malaysia's rank plummeted to 62 in 2017, during the height of the 1MDB scandal. However, the country improved to rank 51 in 2019 under the Pakatan Harapan government, which collapsed in 2020.

Malaysia's ranking declined to 57 in 2020 and 62 in 2021, similar to the height of the 1MDB scandal in 2017.

Lim said Malaysians need to arrest the slide.

"Malaysians must rise and unite again to save the country from becoming the Venezuela of Asean for the second time and the Johor state general election should be the start of this second mission for the sake of our children and children’s children," he said.

He drew parallels to how China was once labelled as the "Sick Man of Asia" but with economic reforms in the past 40 years, some 850 million people have been lifted out of poverty.

"If there had been no change of government in Malaysia on May 9, 2018, we would be steaming ahead to become the Sick Man of Asia by 2030 or 2040, but now that we are back again on the trajectory of a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state, do we resign ourselves to this fate for our children and children’s children?" he said. - Mkini