KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) party still have time to work together in the upcoming six state elections and to avoid support from voters being split between them, DAP veteran Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang said today.
Lim’s remarks come just a week after Muda said it would go solo in the six state polls and have its candidates contest under its own logo.
In a statement today, Lim said he thinks “it is not too late for Pakatan Harapan and Muda to reach an understanding to avoid a split of votes for the critical six state polls next month”.
“I am retired from front-line politics, and I do not know or ask what is happening between Muda and Pakatan Harapan or the Anwar unity government.
“But I harbour the hope that Muda will work in co-operation with Pakatan Harapan and the Anwar unity government in the six state polls,” he said in the same statement.
Lim said the six state elections would decide whether Malaysia will reset and return to the original nation-building principles of a plural Malaysia which the nation’s founding fathers — including the country’s first three prime ministers — had written into the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara.
Lim listed these as including “constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, an independent judiciary, Islam as the official religion of the country and freedom of religion for other faiths, good governance, public integrity with minimum corruption, a clean and honest government, meritocracy, respect for human rights, an end to the various injustices and inequalities in the country, a world-class economic, educational, health and social system, and national unity, understanding and harmony from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural diversity”.
“It will decide whether Malaysia can punch beyond its weight and Malaysians be world champions again in various fields of human endeavour, and even more important, be a role model to the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony,” he said.
Muda applied to join the PH coalition prior to the 15th general election last November but has yet to be accepted as a formal member.
Muda is part of the unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership.
After Muda’s June 26 announcement that it would go solo in the six state polls, Lim had on June 27 urged the political party not to be too hasty and to cooperate with Anwar’s unity government in those elections.
On June 28, Muda president Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman responded to Lim by saying that Muda was not unwilling to cooperate with Anwar, but that Muda’s leadership was “left hanging” after it sent three letters asking for a meeting.
“However, not only were we left hanging, but we were even ridiculed when the Secretary-General of Pakatan Harapan responded by saying that he had no time to read our letters. This was despite the fact that his office initially agreed to a date beforehand but canceled once again at the last minute,” Syed Saddiq had said.
Syed Saddiq said Muda merely wanted to meet to propose a way forward for Malaysia, but that there was no response received after his own multiple attempts to reach out to Anwar and his officers.
