The 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 is the “last mile” for Malaysians, who have been waiting for 61 years for political change – for a change of Prime Minister, the Malaysian Government and national policies for the fulfillment of the Malaysian Dream.
The 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 is unlike all the previous thirteen general elections in the six decades of Malaysian nationhood, when voters elected the Member of Parliament and the State Assembly representative in their respective areas.
But in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, the 15 million Malaysians voters will not only elect their Member of Parliament and State Assembly representative, they will also elect the Prime Minister of Malaysia – whether Datuk Seri Najib Razak will continue as Prime Minister through a combination dirty electoral tactics, worst gerrymanderying in the nation’s history, and undemocratic laws and measures making a mockery of a free, fair and honest election, or whether Najib will be ousted from Putrajaya to be replaced by Tun Mahathir as the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Deputy Prime Mijnister – and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Furthermore, a Malay tsunami is in the making.
The question is whether the Malay tsunami will be strong and powerful enough by Polling Day on May 9, 2018 to dislodge Najib and the UMNO/BN coalition from Putrajaya.
Pollster Merdeka Centre confirms that there is a Malay tsunami at the beginning of April, but was of view that it was not strong enough to put Pakatan Harapan in power.
Everybody knows that in a general election, events and perceptions are telescoped and shortened in an extraordinary way. A phenomena which normally take months to shape can happen within a matter of days.
The stakes on May 9, 2018 are very high and we must not waste this golden opportunity for the first political change in the country in 61 years for such an opportunity is not going to return for a very long time.
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, is now 93 years old and nobody expects him to lead any movement for political change in the 15th General Election in five years’ time in 2023.
I am 77 years old and the 13th General Election is going to be my 12th and last general election battle.
Even Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will turn 71 in less than four months, and if Pakatan Harapan fails on May 9 to form the Malaysian Government in Putrajaya, which means that Anwar will not be the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia as earlier decided by the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council, it is difficult to imagine him as in the forefront of a national campaign for political change in the 15th General Election in another five years.
The 14th General Election is a “now or never” and “Do or Die” Battle to effect political change which means a change of the Prime Minister, a new Malaysian Government in Putrajaya as well new policies and nation-building directions for the country.
If the 15 million voters can walk the “last mile” for the first political change of Prime Minister, Malaysian Government and national policies on May 9, 2018, and vote for Pakatan Harapan, then it will embrace all the “last mile” which Barisan Nasional and its component parties had been promising but unable to complete in the past few decades.
(Speech in Nilai, Seremban on Monday, 30th April 2018 at 10.30 pm)