I want through the first Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Skudai tonight since I was announced as DAP/Pakatan Harapan candidate for Iskandar Puteri to send out two messages to the 15 million voters in Malaysia, one, that the 14th General Election is all about Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister; and two, the 14GE is an opportunity once-in-61 years to “set Malaysia free” from UMNO/BN misrule, corruption, abuses of power, injustices and exploitation.

I was in Sarawak three days ago and I found to my shock and horror that the SUPP is campaigning on the basis that the 14th General Election has nothing to do with Najib but about Sarawak’s right to self-determination.

I am sure that in Peninsular Malaysia, the component Barisan Nasional parties like MCA, Gerakan and MIC would be arguing along the same line, that the 14th General Election is not about Najib as the Prime Minister, but other secondary or subordinate issues.

Make no mistake – the 14th General Election is all about Najib as the Prime Minister and all this signifies including whether Malaysia should continue to become a kleptocratic state and a rogue democracy.

When Malaysia was under the first five Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia was admired and respected by the world.

But under Najib’s premiership, Malaysia was scorned and looked askance by the international community as a global kleptocracy and a rogue democracy!

On May 9, 2018, Malaysians will have the opportunity, first time in 61 years, to change the Prime Minister by voting out UMNO/BN from Putrajaya, and electing a new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government and Tun Mahathir as the new Prime Minister and Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Deputy Prime Minister.

The stage will also be set for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to become the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The theme of the Barisan Nasional manifesto is “Bersama BN Hebatkan Negaraku” (With BN for a Greater Malaysia).

The BN Manifesto is wrong, misleading and “fake news” of the worst order as “Bersama BN” will not “Hebatkan Negaraku” but “Hancurkan Negaraku”.

In over half a century of nation-building, instead of becoming a great nation admired and respected by the world for our accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor, we have lost our way and is scorned and looked askance by the world as we have become a global kleptocracy!

The international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its World Press Freedom Index today, and Malaysia fell one rank to come in at 145th out of 180 countries.

The country’s score, 47.41, also worsened from last year with an increase of 0.52. According to the index, a higher score indicates deteriorating press freedom.

Malaysia’s current ranking is below countries like Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Cambodia.

In the latest Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017, Malaysia fell to the lowest ranking of No. 62 out of 180 countries, which is the lowest ranking in 23 years.

In the Electoral Integrity Index, Malaysia occupies a lowly ranking of No. 142 out of 158 countries lower than Indonesia ranked No.68, Singapore ranked 94 and Philippines ranked 101. Now, Malaysia will rank lower, with the latest constituency redelineation which is the worst gerrymandering in Malaysia in 61 years!

Is Malaysia great – greater than when we achieved nationhood in 1957 and formed Malaysia in 1963?

Do we have a great Prime Minister?

How can Malaysians be proud of a Prime Minister who is just a copycat of US President Donald Trump whose campaign theme was “Make America Great Again” (MAGA)?

Trump has the dubious honour of scoring the lowest popularity rating of below 40% in his first year as US President, but Najib has “out-Trump Trump”, as an international magazine last year listed five world leaders who have lower popularity rating than Trump – and Najib was one of these five world leaders!

In the international community of nations, Najib has brought odium and disrepute to Malaysia as a global kleptocrat and rogue democrat.

Do we have a great Parliament?

The 13th Parliament had degenerated into a great farce, as illustrated by its last six days which I attended daily and diligently, but the Speaker and Deputy Speakers could not see me, and I could not participate in parliamentary debates and my vote was not counted during parliamentary votings.

It would appear that I have become a parliamentary “ghost”.

I had been a Member of Parliament for 10 terms from 1969 to 2018, except for the tenth Parliament from 1999 to 2004, spanning 45 years from 1969.

However, I have not felt so ashamed as a MP than in the 13th Parliament.

It is not because I was suspended twice, and for six months each, basically because I demanded answers and accountability over the 1MDB scandal but because Malaysia became known as a global kleptocracy during the tenure of the 13th Parliament.

The 13th Parliament did not do anything to clear or purge Malaysia of the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy. Even worse, it ignored and subverted the fundamental doctrine of the separation of powers and allowed Parliament to be a rubber stamp of the Executive to suppress questions and debates on the 1MDB scandal, and be a partner in the political crime of enacting the Anti-Fake News legislation to save Najib from the full consequences of the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Do we have great national institutions in the Elections Commission, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission?

Every Malaysian knows that these national institutions have fallen on bad times, as their independence, credibility and authority have been greatly undermined by their chiefs not living up to their high standards of impartiality, responsibility, professionalism and patriotism.

This brings me to the second message about the 14GE tonight – that the 14GE is an opportunity once-in-61 years to “set Malaysia free” from UMNO/BN misrule, corruption, abuses of power, injustices and exploitation.

This is why the DAP Central Executive Committee made the unprecedented decision not to use the Rocket logo but a common Pakatan Harapan logo of PKR’s blue-eyes as we want to set an example and send a clear and unmistakable message that the 14th General Election is the time when all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion region or even political party affiliation, should unite as Malaysians to save Malaysia from hurtling along the trajectory towards failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

Let all Malaysians, including the 3.6 million UMNO members, one million MCA members, one million PAS members, rise above political party affiliation to “set Malaysia free” from UMNO/BN misrule, corruption, abuses of power, injustices and exploitation so that all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, could hold their heads high – whether inside or outside the country – as proud Malaysians!

Set Malaysia free by voting for Pakatan Harapan candidates!

(Speech at the Pakatan Harapan ceramah at Skudai on Wednesday, 25th April 2018 at 11 pm)