Voices of reason amid political ‘pandemic’ give us some hope

[superadmin]

“We have won 13 times and lost once. They lost 13 times and won once. The difference between us and them is that after we lost, many ran away.”

This must have caught the attention of many Malaysians, coming from an Umno Supreme Council member at last weekend’s annual party assembly. Johari Abdul Ghani, the former second  finance minister under Najib Razak, brought this up in the lion’s den, so to speak.

He did not mince his words nor did he pussyfoot when he urged party members to take note of PKR and DAP elected representatives who had remained firm and stuck with their parties through thick and thin despite losing multiple times.


The Federal Territories Umno chief was obviously referring to the 13 Umno MPs who had switched to PPBM soon after the 14th general election (GE14). He may not have said much but it was obvious that Johari was talking of the importance of political honour and resilience here.

DAP and PAS won 42 and 18 parliamentary seats respectively in GE14 with none crossing over to any other party. PKR succeeded in winning 48 seats but 13 of its MPs have switched to PPBM or become Perikatan Nasional (PN) friendly.

“I’m not trying to praise other parties, but I’d like all of you (delegates) to take a look at DAP and PKR,” he said at the annual gathering which is known for its race and religious rhetoric.


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