The shocking conviction and sentences of graphic designer Fahmi Reza to one month jail and RM30,000 fine for insulting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with a clown face caricature posted on Facebook is a warning of the darkness that will descend on the country if there is no change of Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 14th General Election to Save Malaysia by re-setting nation-building policies and directions.
I fully agree with legal experts who view the conviction and sentence as absurd, undemocratic and totally unacceptable.
The Ipoh Sessions Court decision to convict and impose the ridiculous sentences on Fahmi should raise alarm bells not only about the state of human rights and democracy in Malaysia today, but what Malaysia would be like if Najib succeeds in getting re-elected as Prime Minister of Malaysia, or even worse, if the UMNO/Barisan Nasional returns to Parliament with a two-thirds majority.
If Najib and UMNO/BN are to be defeated in the 14GE, then the Pakatan Harapan coalition must be able to do better than Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE, not only to sustain the voting support of those who voted for change in the 12th and 13th GE, but also to win over the rural voters who had voted and saved Najib and the UMNO/BN coalition in the 13GE, in particular the Malay and UMNO voters in the 13GE who had been responsible for UMNO winning 73 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.
Without the support of the rural Malay voters in the 73 parliamentary seats won by UMNO in Peninsular Malaysia in the 13GE, no political change, no institutional or systemic reform is possible.
Pakatan Harapan does not want only a change of government, but institutional and systemic reforms, especially the restoration of the independence, professionalism and integrity of the national institutions in the country, like the Judiciary, the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission but also the repeal of all laws and agreements that violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.
Fahmi’s conviction and sentences are a reminder that the question in the 14GE is not whether to choose between Najib and Tun Mahathir Mohamad but whether to be trapped in the trajectory of a failed and rogue kleptocratic state or whether to Save Malaysia by re-setting nation-building policies based on the fundamental principles of the Malaysian Constitution to build a united, democratic, competitive, progressive and prosperous Malaysia where all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Kadazans or Ibans; whether Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and others can feel proud.
(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 21st February 2018)