KUCHING, July 1: Political scientist Associate Professor Dr Faisal Hazis cautioned the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, especially its elected representatives in Sarawak, not to take for granted that being the federal government would ensure a good change in Malaysia.
He said having a change in the government as well as a ‘New Malaysia’ would not automatically mean for the better because it had only been more than a month since PH took over power and it hadn’t fulfilled most of its most critical promises yet.
One particular item in the manifesto the PH government had yet to fulfil was to address the high cost of living among the people.
Pointing this out during the ‘Malaysia Baru: Adakah Rakyat Boss?’ forum organised by Rise of Sarawak Efforts (ROSE) at a hotel here this afternoon, Faisal said Sarawak PH had to be vigilant in the next two years if it were to have a chance in the state election, which is due in 2021.
“With due respect to Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and Bandar Kuching MP (Dr) Kelvin Yii (who were also present), we cannot trust politicians. This is because last time there was blind loyalty to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and it did not go well with them. The last thing we want now is blind loyalty to PH. Have to be careful with that.
“Now we cannot say we are ‘Malaysia Baru’ yet because not much has changed yet. PH manifesto for example, one of it was to address the high cost of living among Malaysians,” he said.
Faisal said academicians had predicted that the global economy might face another recession this year or next year.
“So if Umno (United Malays National Organisation) becomes stronger in the next two years, PH will have no chance.
“That is the fact. PH manifesto wants to address the rising cost of living of the people, but at the same time our national debt is said to be about RM1 trillion,” he said.
Another point Faisal raised was that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad failed to address the alleged corruption of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, claiming that no official report had been lodged against Taib, hence no actions were taken.
“Therefore, you must not take for granted after winning the election (GE14). The people will scrutinise what you do, especially when it comes to fulfilling your manifesto.”
However, Faisal said the change of government was a good thing as this showed that the voices of the people were still being heard.
He hoped that the PH government would be sincere in addressing the issues faced by the people and not merely lead the people into ‘blind loyalty’, like what BN did. — DayakDaily
