Harapan Must Resolve Communication Failures Before Ge15 Kit Siang

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Pakatan Harapan must resolve its communication failures before the 15th general election or risk suffering from misperceptions, said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.
He said the four issues plaguing Harapan was the contradictory perception that DAP was both anti-Malay and had also sold out the interest of non-Malays, that the coalition failed to deliver on its promises when it was the government, as well as the failure to explain the significance of the 2018 general election result and the confidence and supply agreement with the government.
Lim (above) noted that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had lamented how Umno had painted the perception that DAP was out to "destroy the Malays" and a Malay-Muslim government was needed to replace the Harapan government.
"But Mahathir presented only half the picture. Among the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese, there was the opposite allegation that Harapan was a Malay or Mahathir government, and the DAP had sold out the rights and interests of the non-Malays in general and that of the Chinese in particular.
"This is the first communication failure of the Harapan government, which Mahathir admitted the Harapan government had failed to rebut these baseless and unfounded allegations," said Lim, who is also the Iskandar Puteri MP.
He said Harapan also could not address claims that the coalition failed to deliver during its 22-months in power until it was brought down through defections.
"There are legitimate reasons for Malaysians to be unhappy with the pace for institutional reform or the rate of implementing the election pledges, and this was why I met Mahathir in mid-2019 and expressed my concern about the rate of fulfilling the Harapan election manifesto.
"I had intended to meet the prime minister after the mid-term of the Harapan government but the Harapan government was toppled after 22 months.
"The Harapan mandate to fulfil the election manifesto was for five years. If in the first half of the term, the implementation of the election manifesto was slow for whatever reason, this could be remedied in the second half of the five-year term by an acceleration to implement the election pledges.
"But this was rendered impossible by the Sheraton Move conspiracy which toppled the Harapan government in 22 months," he said.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir MohamadThe coup against the Harapan government is referred to as the Sheraton Move because its conspirators had gathered at Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya in late February ahead of a planned mass defection.
"The third Harapan communication failure is the failure to impress on the people the importance of 14th general election result on May 9, 2018 in ending the political hegemony of Umno," Lim said.
As a result, he added, Malaysia is in a new political scenario that is seeking a new equilibrium that has seen four prime ministers in five years.
"The lesson for Malaysians is to realise that a political struggle to make Malaysia a world-class great nation is a long and arduous one and requires perseverance and stamina for the long haul.
"It has taken half a century to break Umno political hegemony.
"We may need another half a century to achieve the Malaysian dream to become a world-class great nation – as this cannot be done in a year or two, or in one or two decades," he said.
Lim said the country had been on a decline for half a century, falling behind the likes of Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.
"Malaysians must end this trajectory of decline and strive instead to be a world-class great nation in various fields of human endeavour.
"This will take decades and what better target than Malaysia’s centennial in 2063," he added.
Failed to effectively rebut allegations over MOU
Lim said Harapan had also failed to communicate on the confidence-supply-reform memorandum of understanding (MOU) it had signed with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's government.
Under the deal, Harapan MPs pledged not to obstruct the government's key legislative agenda in exchange for institutional reforms and equitable funding.
"Harapan has failed to effectively rebut allegations that Harapan had been co-opted into the Ismail Sabri government and is no more an opposition," he added.
Lim said nothing was further from the truth. He said the MOU was only made possible with the end of Umno's hegemony.
"We stopped the Harapan's numbers of parliamentarians being used in the 'Game of Thrones' of government parties in the conspiracy to be prime minister, as whatever the combination and permutation, Anwar Ibrahim would not be named prime minister whether by PN or BN.
"The MOU was to unite the efforts of all Malaysians to end the exponential increase of Covid19 cases and deaths.
"There were 24,599 Covid-19 cases and 393 fatalities on Aug 26, 2021, five days after Ismail Sabri was sworn in as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia.
"If this exponential daily increase of Covid-19 cases and deaths had not been stopped, we might have cumulative totals of five to 10 million Covid-19 cases and 100,000 to 200,000 Covid-19 deaths on Dec 31, instead of 2.75 million Covid-19 cases and 31,500 Covid-19 deaths," he said.
Under the MOU, he said Harapan had also pushed Ismail Sabri's government to allocate RM45 billion to help Malaysians impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. - Mkini

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