The six state polls in August are the most important state general elections in over six decades in Malaysia as they affect not only the future of the six states but the future of Malaysia.
Already, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) cybertroopers are spreading the falsehood that the Anwar unity government will collapse next month, although this is impossible, as the Anwar unity government has not only secured a vote of confidence in Parliament last December, another vote of confidence in Parliament is not going to take place as MPs cannot switch parties any longer.
But PAS wants to see a PAS Chief Minister in Penang. We do not want to see a DAP Mentri Besar in Kelantan.
We do not want Penang to deteriorate from being among the richest states in Malaysia to become the poorest state in Malaysia like Kelantan.
But we do want Kelantan to be like Penang, but the effort to ensure that Kelantan can be as prosperous and progressive as Penang will take some time, may be ten or twenty years, as Penang has a per capita GDP which is four times that of Kelantan.
I believe that the majority of Penangites will like to see the Penang-led State Government returned with a two-thirds majority in the Penang State Assembly in the Penang state polls but as the Chinese saying goes, what we fear is not “It Wan but Wan It” — and the possibility however unlikely it seems, to have a PAS Chief Minister in the Penang State Polls in August cannot be completely ruled out.
To prevent “Wan It” from happening, the voters of Penang must come out in large numbers and have a voter turn-out higher than in the 2018 and 2022 general elections.
I therefore call on the Penang voters, Malays and non-Malays, Muslims and non-Muslims, irrespective of age or gender, to create history in the state polls in August by voting with higher turnout than the 14th and 15th General Elections to grasp the once-in-a-century opportunity for Malaysia to be world champions again and to be the role model to the world for inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and harmony.
The six state general election are more important than whether the Anwar unity government can be toppled, as it is about whether Malaysia can be saved, reset and return to the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia which the nation’s founding fathers (which included the first three Malaysian Prime Ministers who were also UMNO President) have written into the Constitution and Rukun Negara.
Malaysia needs at least ten to twenty years to end the national decline in the last few decades and to become world champions again and be a role model to the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and harmony.
Let Penang be the leader of this national transformation for Malaysia to be world champions again and avoid the trajectory of a divided, failed, and corrupt state in the coming decades.
Lets start with the Penang state polls next month!
(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the Lim Chamber of Commerce (Penang) new office-bearers swearing-in ceremony at Iconic Hill top, Penang on Friday, 1st July 2023)