By Chandra Muzaffar
Malaysia is in the throes of a totally unnecessary political crisis. It is a crisis that can be resolved immediately if all political actors inside and outside parliament observe a moratorium on jockeying and jostling for political power. Instead, they should all concentrate on our twin health and economic crises.
Politics that seeks to overthrow a party or a leader or to replace the government of the day through manipulations and manoeuvres should cease immediately. Given the grave situation we are in, we should allow the people — and only the people — to change the government. After all that is what happens in a genuine democracy.
Let the people decide who should form the government once we have gained control of our twin crises. When the crises no longer threaten our well-being as a nation, let us begin to prepare for a General Election. There are compelling reasons why the people as a whole should decide on this vital question of who should constitute the next government.
First, at the root of the prevailing political crisis is the impact of corruption upon UMNO and society. A number of UMNO leaders, it is alleged, fear that they would be convicted of corruption and would have to spend long years in jail. They are hoping therefore that a different elite in power may pave the way for their release which is why they are so keen on regime change. They forget that interfering with the judicial process will sap the moral fibre of our society.
Two, intertwined with elite corruption is of course the 1 MDB scandal which implicates not just UMNO elites but also other national elites and their close foreign buddies whose personal interests the former may be determined to protect. Again, this may require a change in political leadership which a game of musical chairs in Parliament may help to achieve.
Three, it is even possible that the foreign hands involved in this game may be part of a much bigger, more complex geopolitical machination which is linked to powerful global actors who are hell-bent on perpetuating their global hegemony. If these actors have been dabbling in our politics for a long while through their proxies — as they had admitted publicly in the aftermath of the 2018 General Election —- should we be surprised if they are actively pursuing their agenda through the artificially contrived political crisis that we are witnessing today?
Since the stakes are so high, Malaysians should not allow a small coterie with vested interests to shape our future. This is why in the unfolding political crisis it is not just the fate of one individual which is the issue. It is the destiny of a whole nation which confronts us.
Dr Chandra Muzaffar is a social activist and a former academic.
Kuala Lumpur.
10th August 2021.