Is there an irresistible “green tide” phenomenon in Malaysia which will make Malaysia a complete Islamic state by the 17th General Election before 2032?

This is the prediction of some analysts who see Malaysia inexorably heading in that direction.

I am not so pessimistic although the “green tide” phenomenon in the 15th Malaysian general elections had caught all political parties, analysts, and opinion polls by surprise.

I believe that the “green tide” phenomenon in the 15th General Election causing PAS to emerge as the biggest parliamentary group in Parliament with 44 Members of Parliament stood on sand and is not invincible, as the “green tide” phenomenon was among others, the creation of the toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race, and religion, and the unexpected result of the lowering of the voting age to 18, adding 1.4 million new votes to the electoral roll.

There are good and bad signs in the 15th General Election — the rejection of the “BOSSku” phenomenon and to condemn the degradations of Malaysia into a kleptocracy, but the succumbing to the politics of lies, fear, hate, race, and religion for lack of a counter narrative.

Whether the “green tide” phenomenon becomes an irresistible wave will depend on the Anwar unity government’s ability to implement reformasi policies and programmes to reset nation-building policies and principles to return to the vision of the nation’s founders, which included the first four UMNO Presidents, to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world” by building a first-rate world-class Malaysian nation in various fields of human endeavour and stopping the national decline in the past six decades.

Malaysia must learn from the lessons of the 15th General Elections and not allow Malaysian democracy to be hijacked by the toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race, and religion.

This is why it is imperative that the Anwar unity government must deal with the problem of disinformation and polarisation of the social media, which pose an existential threat to Malaysian parliamentary democracy and create a clean, honest and incorruptible government.

We must ensure that in the 16th General Election, Malaysia does not have to grapple with the toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race, and religion and that Malaysia has learnt from the lessons of the 15th General Election.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Friday, 9th December 2022)