Pakatan Harapan Government has been in office for 100 days but faced countless criticisms from Barisan Nasional for not being able to fulfil all election promises.
I would asserted that freedom is the mother of all liberties. The government that Pakatan Harapan takes over is plagued by immense corruption, decayed institutions, malfunctioned economy, draconian laws and unjust judiciary.
Therefore, Malaysians should focus more on evaluating Pakatan Harapan Government’s report card on institutional reforms instead of merely on policies for people’s welfare at the expense of huge amount of our nation’s money.
BN that had been in power for 61 years did not only bring large-scale corruption but also trample mercilessly on our freedom in every political aspect. When freedom is not protected, all of the other liberties or rights are just merely an empty shell which can never be enjoyed nor guaranteed. In the end, we are just allowed to aimlessly struggle for livelihood.
The main reasons that Malaysians are entangled in political, social, economic and educational predicaments, and have lost the courage and ability to speak the truth but could only blindly follow the old regime’s wishes are: i. Malfunctioned separation of powers, corrupt institution, as well as the resultant incapability to balance the nearly “omnipotent” old regime.
It is only through promoting new politics, reviving constitutionalism and separation of powers, rebuilding the mechanisms for balance of power, repealing draconian laws as well as safeguarding freedom of press and expression, that we can build an environment that allows people to fully utilise every right and also to stop UMNO, MCA and PAS from fanning religious and racial sentiments. And only in this new environment that every policy for rakyat’s welfare that are listed in the Harapan Manifesto can truly reap fruitful benefits for everyone.
In the past 100 days, PH Government’s resolve in realising institutional reforms is unquestionable. This includes reducing Prime Minister’s power, empowering the Parliament and allowing many institutions to report to the Parliament directly, abolishing draconian laws, initiating political reform that underscores zero corruption – a major breakthrough of institutional reforms that were never seen in the past 61 years under the BN regime.
BN Opposition has been disregarding our country’s current perilous financials and selectively overlooking PH’s substantial efforts in restructuring the whole system. At the same time, it only keeps harping on several polices that couldn’t be realised due to our financial predicament and working together with PAS in fanning racial and religious sentiments to break apart the trust among ethnic groups. Their hidden agenda is crystal clear.
There are promises for the rakyat that are yet to be realised such as abolishing tolls. This is not because PH doesn’t intend to implement them, but PH is seriously constrained by our country’s financials at the very moment.
The Government’s utmost priority is to rebuild and repair our institutions to ensure that the freedom and rights for everyone are guaranteed. With this foundation, the social and economic development of our country can then enjoy far more, bigger and more diverse possibilities. This is indeed what Malaysians should put our focus on.