He even calls upon Umno leaders who do not want Najib and Ahmad Zahid back in power to work together for the sake of the country
by FAYYADH JAAFAR / pic by TMR FILE
DAP deputy secretary general Liew Chin Tong (picture) is calling on all Opposition parties to work together to prevent the return to power of the “Court Cluster”, led by former Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak and former deputy PM Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
In his recent Facebook post, Liew said the Court Cluster has been attempting to stage a comeback through snap elections, which must be prevented with a common strategy and unity instead of fighting among themselves over who should contest which seats.
“Indeed, all Malaysians who do not want the Court Cluster to make a comeback should talk to each other and work on a common agenda to strengthen the Malaysian democracy,” he added.
Liew even called upon Umno leaders who do not want Najib and Ahmad Zahid back in power to work together for the sake of the country.
“What is more important now is for all political forces against the Court Cluster, including Umno leaders who do not want to see the return of Najib and (Ahmad) Zahid, to work out a set of democratic rules that would be upheld regardless of the political fluidity, to ensure fair elections and fair processes governing the formation of government on election night if no single party has an outright majority.”
Citing the defeatist attitude of many Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters, Liew urged them to stop thinking that the Court Cluster will win the next election easily.
“As shown in the battle to remove Muhyiddin as PM, the Court Cluster had only 15 MPs on its side at the height of the crisis.
“With less than 7% MPs out of a 222-seat Parliament, the Court Cluster pulled off one of the greatest political heists and turnarounds by manipulating sentiments and cleavages of all of their opponents,” he said, adding that it is possible for the Court Cluster to win the next general election (GE) if enough people believe in their rhetoric.
“Umno and Pas inflamed the ground by accusing the PH government, especially with DAP as part of the ruling coalition, of being a threat to Islam, while on the other hand, non-Malays and non-Muslims were fed the idea that their identities and ways of life were under threat under the government led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he elaborated.
Explaining that the Melaka and Johor state governments were brought down through “the Court Cluster’s scorched-earth approach”, Liew added that it would likely attempt to bring down the federal government in August or September 2022 if they felt confident enough.
“Najib and (Ahmad) Zahid will be the clear beneficiaries of an August or September 2022 GE. With (Ahmad) Zahid still at the helm in Umno, he could decide on who would be Umno candidates, thus eliminating the internal opponents of the Court Cluster,” he said, stressing that the group’s constant pressure on the government could lead to a snap election earlier than expected.
“Now, the Court Cluster seems to be on its way to breaking out of jail. Efforts are being made to force a GE in the next few months.
“The most talked about date is the one agreed to by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob to not call for a dissolution as stipulated in the MoU (memorandum of understanding) between his government and PH, which is July 31.” The 14th Parliament is due for automatic dissolution on July 16, 2023.
Concluding his post, Liew urged Malaysians to come together to prevent the country from being taken over by the Court Cluster.
“As long as all political actors realise that the nation could be plunged into further calamity when the Court Cluster leaders come back into power, there is still hope that some kind of democratic rules fair to all could be formulated, and the unreformed and unrepentant Umno would not be allowed to set the pace, tone and agenda for the rest of Malaysia.”