This is my second stop after Kuantan in my three-day “Jelajah Desa di Pantai Timur” to Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan during this year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri season.
Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, must realise the critical importance of ordinary Malaysians coming forward to unite to save Malaysia from hurtling headlong towards a failed and rogue state.
Ordinary Malaysians must not allow the country to join the ranks of the failed nations, incapable of achieving the greatness we envisaged for our country when we attained Merdeka 60 years ago in 1957 to be a world-class nation and a model for the world of an united, harmonious, progressive and prosperous plural nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures.
South Korea is an example of a nation which had overtaken Malaysia in the past six decades.
Sixty years ago, South Korea was poor, backward and undemocratic, where there is no respect whatsoever for human rights or the principles of good governance.
Today South Korea is one of the richest and most developed nations in the world, whose Parliament and Judiciary could remove the nation’s President and charge her for corruption and cronyism. The former South Korean President is now in jail awaiting trial for corruption.
Malaysia has not only allowed South Korea to overtake us in economic development and progress, but we trail far behind South Korea and many other countries in terms of human rights and good governance, as it is unthinkable that the Malaysian Cabinet, Parliament and Judiciary could direct the Prime Minister to step down because of corruption and cronyism – unless there is a change of government in Putrajaya in the 14th General Election.
A good example is the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal. Over half a dozen countries have prosecuted errant bankers or closed down banks for their complicity in the international 1MDB money-laundering scam, except for Malaysia – the motherland of 1MDB!
Malaysia has achieved world-class status – but not for any human excellence and accomplishment for which Malaysians can be proud about, but for the total breakdown of moral and religious values in becoming a global kleptocracy for which Malaysians regardless of race or religion should hold their heads in shame
I told Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs in Parliament that a kleptoracy is a government of 3Ps – Pencuri, Perompak and Penyamun. No person, whatever the race, religion or culture can be proud of their nation becoming a global kleptocracy. The Cabinet which met today has shown that it will not do anything to ask “Who is MO1” or “Who is the wife of MO1”, let alone take the necessary measures to prove that Malaysia is a genuine democracy and not a global kleptocracy.
Malaysians have a UMNO/BN government which will not do anything to clear or cleanse Malaysia of the disrepute, ignominy and infamy of an global kleptocracy.
What is worse, it is also now clear that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has the full backing of the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to block any efforts to get to the bottom of the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal as the PAS President does not see anything wrong or shameful about the 1MDB scandal.
It is now left to ordinary Malaysians to save and redeem the honour and good name of Malaysia.
The 14th General Election has become critically important for it will answer the question whether ordinary Malaysians can save Malaysia from the disgrace, dishonour and disrepute of a global kleptocracy when there is an unholy alliance between Najib and Hadi to block any accounting and full investigation of the 1MDB scandal.
Hadi boasts that he wants PAS to win five states in the next general election.
This is a very tall order. In actual fact, one of the issues to be determined in the 14th general election is not whether PAS can win five state governments in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah and Selangor but whether PAS could retain power in Kelantan State Government, which PAS had won under Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat 27 years ago in 1990.
Will Hadi’s leadership lead to PAS losing Kelantan, in the same ignominous way Hadi lost Terengganu in the 2004 general election after the surprise PAS win of Terengganu state power in the 1999 general election in a reformasi wave because of the Anwar Ibrahim factor?
Under Hadi’s leadership, PAS will not be fighting the 14th general election to win the five states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah and Selangor but to fight for its political life as to whether it could retain power in Kelantan State Government which it had captured since 1990!
(Speech at the kopitiam dialogue in Kemamam during “Jelajah Desa bersama Kit Siang di Pantai Timur” on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 6 pm)