I was stunned and shocked by the DNAA development with regard to the Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO President, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
If the two Johore by-elections in Pulai and Simpang Jeram on Sept. 9, 2023 had been won by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates, PN would do its utmost as reflected by the speech of the PAS President, Hadi Awang, in Parliament on September 13, 2023 in the debate on the review of the 12th Malaysia Plan, to topple the Anwar Unity Government, however impossible the likelihood, ushering in a period of political instability and uncertainty.
No PN political leader seems concerned about Malaysia losing its global position in the last two decades, the inability to fulfil all the nine strategic challenges of Vision 2020 and the agenda of ensuring that Malaysia can rise again to become a great world-class nation instead of hurtling along the trajectory of a divided, failed and kleptocratic state in the coming decades.
It is most reassuring that in both their forewords to the Report on the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan, both the Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim and the Economy Minister, Rafizi Ramli reaffirmed that the war against corruption stays atop of the government agenda, and for the first time in Malaysia’s five-year plans, there is a commitment for Malaysia to rank within the top 25 in the global corruption perception index within a 10-year period.
How will Malaysia perform in the 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index which will be released in January next year will be of great interest to all Malaysians but the time to judge whether Malaysia is making any progress in the anti-corruption campaign in the 16th General Election 2027.
Tomorrow is Malaysia Day.
The Mid-Tern Review Report on the 12th Malaysia Plan started with the Rukun Negara pledges and principles, viz:
WHEREAS OUR COUNTRY, MALAYSIA nurtures the ambitions of:
- Achieving a more perfect unity amongst the whole of the society;
- Preserving a democratic way of life;
- Creating a just society where the prosperity of the country can be enjoyed together in a fair and equitable manner;
- Guaranteeing a liberal approach towards her rich and varied cultural traditions; and
- Building a progressive society that will make use of science and modern technology.
WE, residents of Malaysia, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends guided by these principles:
- BELIEVE IN GOD
- LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY
- SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION
- THE RULE OF LAW
- COURTESY AND MORALITY
The critical question is whether all the 74 MPs and 208 Assembly persons of Perikatan Nasional accept and support all the five Rukun Negara precepts and principles of Malaysian nation-building, which involves the reduction of the 3Rs issues to divide the diverse races, religions and cultures and the national resolve and mission to make Malaysia as model to the world of multl-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.