CONGRATS & EXACTLY! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PAKATAN & UMNO ARE STARTING TO GEL TOGETHER – ‘THERE ARE FEWER COMPLAINTS THAN BEFORE’ – AND IT IS ON BOTH SIDES – WITH PAKATAN SUPPORTERS READY TO HELP UMNO ‘WIN BIG’ IN STATE ELECTIONS – SO LONG AS IT STOPS FLYING THE ‘KETUANAN’ FLAG THE MOMENT ANY OF ITS LEADERS CANNOT GET THE CORRUPT DEAL OR POST THEY WANT – AND FREEING NAJIB IS A NO-NO – AND SO ARE THE ULTRA REFORMISTS WHO SHOOT THEIR LOOSE-CANNON MOUTHS, MAYBE BECAUSE THEY WILL BE INCREASINGLY LEFT WITH LESS CAUSE FOR RELEVANCE IF UNITY GOVT PERFORMS AS IT SHOULD!
Loke also showed support for Umno to become “stronger” by emerging victorious in the state polls, saying it would only benefit the current coalition government.
“It will be at the expense of the opposition if they (Umno) are stronger.
“We do not think about fighting each other in the state election.
He was speaking at a roundtable session by Bersih titled “Deepening Democracy in Malaysia: Steering a post-election coalition government” at Parliament today.
He said this in response to a question by an audience member who asked about the decoupling of the federal and state governments to allow politicians, who are working together in the federal coalition government, to contest against each other at the state level.
“This was also shown by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) and BN cooperation.
While PN and BN were part of the same federal government, the then-estranged allies contested against each other in the Malacca and Johor state elections in November 2021 and March 2022 respectively.
Therefore, he reiterated that the Anwar Ibrahim government’s focus is to make the current administration work. “If we start thinking about killing each other or ensuring BN will not become ‘bigger’ the next round, that will not work.”
No to PAS
In a related development, he said it would be impossible for DAP to work with PAS, considering the latter’s sense of incredulity in multiculturalism in the country.
Loke stood by his party’s principle that whoever forms the federal government must always uphold Malaysia’s multiracialism and diversity.
“PAS in its current form, (the answer is) a definite no. If you look at their speeches and statements, and the views propagated by the president (Abdul Hadi Awang), they totally disregard Malaysia as a multicultural country.”
DAP had in the past worked with the Islamist party to form Barisan Alternatif in 1999 until 2001, and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) from 2008 to 2015.
Both DAP and PAS were members of the three-party opposition PR before the bloc fell apart in 2015 amid differences over the implementation of the Islamic penal code, or hudud, in Kelantan. MKINI
Harapan a better partner for reform agenda – Azalina
Pakatan Harapan is a better-suited partner, compared to other parties and coalitions, when it comes to implementing the reform agenda, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
Azalina today divulged that she’s more comfortable working hand in hand with Harapan after Umno and the Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition worked together on several reforms including the anti-party hopping law.
“There are certain common agendas that we can work on together.
“I felt that personally, as the legal adviser for the party (Umno) then, when we were talking about a coalition government, I felt that Harapan would be better for reform.
Better than ‘you know who’
She asserted that, on a personal level, she would much prefer cooperating with Harapan than another party, which she described to be “more conservative” than Umno.
However, she did not reveal the name of the party or coalition she was comparing Harapan to, merely saying “You know who”.
“I don’t know if the ‘rakyat’ is happy with the ‘marriage’ (between Harapan and Umno) or not, but someone told me that the complaints are fewer than before. My personal view is that the state elections will be the testing ground for our relationship,” she added.
In a related development, she stressed the importance of achieving the reform agenda in order for the government to last. MKINI
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