INTERVIEW | In spite of the initial uncertainty that surrounded the 15th general election results, our new Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is optimistic that the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will bring some much-needed stability to the nation.
In an interview with Malaysiakini at his new office in Putrajaya, Nik Nazmi said he is optimistic that the government reflects the mood of the people who want to see an end to the politicking that dragged down the country ever since the Sheraton Move in February 2020.
“I do believe this government will last and we can do our jobs. I think there's a huge desire for stability.
“You speak to businesses, civil servants and civil society, and you know the fact that there was no majority, so the people knew that we need some form of a coalition government.
“I come from the opposition background, and we've never liked the government to have a dominant two-thirds majority, but having gone through the Sheraton Move and beyond, I think people appreciate that we now have a two-thirds majority,” he said.
Nik Nazmi said the new unity government has some goodwill but that it must not be squandered.
“I think that we have to use the goodwill. With the fact that Anwar is the prime minister after 24 years (since the latter’s firing as deputy prime minister) and then you have this sort of cross-party alliance and a unity government in place.
“We have to make use of what we have now and make up for the lost time. Because we see how Indonesia is growing, we see how Vietnam is growing, and I think there's a lot of desire among Malaysians for us to catch up. I think that sense of stability is important,” he said.
Last week, Anwar passed the motion of confidence tabled in the Dewan Rakyat to confirm his legitimacy as the prime minister through a voice vote.
In another test of the government’s strength, newly appointed Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul garnered 147 votes, one shy of a two-thirds majority.
Harapan needs to engage with PAS supporters
PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi admitted that one factor in bringing together the parties that have formed the current administration was a collective fear of the growing clout of PAS, particularly among rural Malay voters.
“I think one of the positive things is the fact that people are all quite concerned about the rise of Perikatan Nasional and PAS, and whether, for better or worse, that brought the unity government together.
“I think at the same time it's important to engage and not be dismissive of their growing strength. We have to understand why people are supporting them. It's not just the East Coast and the north of Peninsular Malaysia. Even in parts of Selangor, they are growing.
“And in my area, honestly I did not expect PN to be the number two party and overtake Umno,” he said.
Nik Nazmi won the Setiawangsa parliamentary seat with 34,434 votes, a majority of 12,164 over PN’s Nurul Fadzilah Kamaluddin who bagged 22,270 votes while BN/Umno’s Izudin Ishak came in third with just 16,333 votes.
“I always thought that with the money and campaign of BN being the stronger, they would prevail over PN. But it was PN. I think we like to dismiss them and make them a bogeyman.
“And then we demonise the people who voted for them without understanding why that happened. Me, I will continue to engage. The fact is that we were successful in pulling people away from Umno but many turned to PN and PAS instead.
“Due to the flooding, I went to Kelantan last Sunday and again this week. I contact local legislators and those on the ground to make sure the point of contact is always there.
“The prime minister is quite clear on this - we must not repeat the mistakes of the previous regimes that punished the people for voting for the other side. Kelantan has been penalised for so long but that didn’t stop them from voting for PAS since 1990. We have to engage, not block them out,” Nik Nazmi added. - Mkini
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