YOURSAY | Can Harapan rise again if it fails in GE15?

 

YOURSAY | ‘M’sians have to take responsibility – or live with the consequences.’

Butterfly effect: Rafizi's win increases chance of BN landslide in GE15

Frank: Between winning the next general election and seeing some traitors never ever again get to be the people’s representatives in Parliament or state assemblies, the answer must be the latter.

Why? It is for all of Malaysia to understand that you never ever betray the rakyat who voted for you. If not, the disgusting act of hopping to another political party will continue to no end.

Besides, Malaysians need to understand and take responsibility for the kind of people who they want to form the next government.

It is long overdue that Malaysians stop blaming others for all the bad or insane stuff that they have to undergo as Malaysians. Instead, take responsibility – or live with the consequences.

Just A Malaysian: Winning the election without changing the narratives on racism or religious fanaticism will end up again like Pakatan Harapan’s first foray as government.

Any reforms will be accused by the rightists of challenging Malay and Muslim rights. Under the big tent, Malay opportunists will use it again to grab power.

PKR newly-minted deputy president Rafizi Ramli needs to convince as many Malays as possible to the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by the rich and powerful elites and to support painful reforms without running back to Umno and PAS.

We need to let BN win big in GE15. They will continue the plunder until the pain is ripe for real and true reforms.

Milshah: If Harapan becomes opposition, so be it, at least they have principles and dignity. Similarly, the Umno supporters will be happy too since Umno will return as the government.

Hopefully, with everyone satisfied with the result, it will bring political stability and the government can tackle the issues affecting the rakyat like high cost of living and unemployment, among other things.

Folks, this is how it has been for the past 60 years.

Coward: Despite what he said, I don't see Rafizi abandoning the big-tent approach but fine-tuning it into something more meaningful than just a power-grab machinery.

Rafizi, if he hasn't realised it yet, will soon find out that to make good, he has to collaborate with other parties.

Unlike new secretary-general Anthony Loke, whose ethnicity means, however good he is, he is not likely to get the number 1 or number 2 post in government, Rafizi has the chance, and thus far he has the momentum and the brains to collect that prize.

To do that, he cannot do it on his own. Those in his party advocating to be independent of other parties are misguided when it comes to the ultimate prize and he has to lead them away from their current course.

A lot of voters are disillusioned with the big-tent approach as its central tenet is yet another power grab. One can say the big-tent approach had sacrificed the call to arms of reformasi. I am not surprised by this because the founder of the movement seems to be preoccupied with power grab.

If Rafizi takes stock, he must put a big idea out and create the gravitational pull toward him. Continuing on reformasi is just one of the big ideas he can latch on to build his strength.

However, he will have to collaborate with others to succeed. He might not want to call it big tent. We don't care about the moniker as long as it is not just hot air.

Now having succeeded in talking the talk, we need to see him walk the talk.

Constitutional Supremacy: This Invoke survey is self-serving and unreliable. There is no such thing that if PKR does badly now, it will rise in the future. This is to hoodwink the people. If PKR does badly now, it is more likely that it will never rise again.

One problem is Invoke is well-organised and well-funded. They have a lot of troopers who are going to praise Rafizi sky high. They only account for a few hundred votes.

For GE15, the only hope for the opposition is to unite under a big tent and try to win the maximum number of seats and use that strength to move forward. For GE15, Rafizi should be ignored and sidelined together with his Invoke.

Coward: Indeed, Invoke has to prove that it is independent and free from influence from other parties, Rafizi especially.

I would take what it says with a pinch of salt until it proves its independent thinking and what it says is well-grounded in truth. It's heading the right way. We need to give it space to prove itself.

Joker: True Malaysians wanting change will not want a repeat of the pyrrhic victory through a 'big tent' approach. What is the point of winning the battle but ultimately losing the war through defections and betrayals from frenemies within the tent?

DAP has seen the passing of the torch from the Lims (Kit Siang and Guan Eng) to the younger Anthony Loke and we hope that Anwar will step down to let the younger generation such as Rafizi to try where he has failed.

Omar Iz: Anwar doesn't have a clear vision, and appears and sounds tired. We need fresh ideas, fresh talking points, and energy to lift the nation's spirits. Rafizi, in my opinion, has it.

Hopefully, Anwar would realise his limitations and step aside (a terribly difficult thing to do, I know) for the greater good of the country.

Malaysian voters do not like being administered by criminals, opportunists and incompetent self-servers. The current administration is happily postponing tough decisions to the next; so, unless we get our act together fast, things (at the federal level) will likely get a lot worse.

That said, it is unclear if Harapan is ready for prime time again. They may if they develop an organising vision and a clear framework to deliver.

Uragt: To predict with any accuracy the outcome of GE15 depends on identifying and understanding the psyche of the moderates, liberals as well as racists and right-wingers, especially Umno-PN's traditional supporters.

If they are not even convinced to remove the wrongdoers within their parties, they won't be supporting Harapan anytime soon, no matter who is leading Harapan or PKR.

Harapan has to stick to its original righteous objectives. - Mkini