This year’s Merdeka celebrations should belong to the people and not politicians. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri’s emphasis that racial unity is key to realising Keluarga Malaysia(Malaysian Family) is wrong. The priority should be national unity, the economy and people’s livelihood over racial unity, calling for early general election this year and the blind pursuit of political posts at all costs.
Emphasising racial unity is not Keluarga Malaysia but Keluarga Melayu, Keluarga Cina, Keluarga India, Keluarga Dayak/Iban, Keluarga Kadazan Dusun Murut(KDM). Does Keluarga Malaysia exist when Ismail failed dramatically to publicly disavow and oppose the false, baseless, racist and extreme remarks by the PAS President and PAS Youth President that respectively blamed the non-Muslims and non-bumis as the roots of corruption in Malaysia and threatened nation-wide demonstrations to ban concerts by international artistes?
The current economic crisis will be the primary issue for the rakyat, even overshadowing the historic jailing of former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for abuse of power. By buckling under pressure from UMNO to hold early general election, Ismail ignores the perilous nature of the country’s economic recovery in the face of rising prices and inflation, severe labour shortage, depreciating ringgit, poor governance, rampaging corruption and an impending global recession.
Instead of focusing on the people’s livelihood, UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and BN claim that the unstable political scenario has put the country’s economy in a state of decline, thereby necessitating an early general election. Whilst UMNO is correct that the country’s economy is in a state of decline, it is UMNO that is destabilising their own Prime Minister with repeated threats to call early general elections when full attention should be given towards resolving current economic woes.
Ensure Full Accountability On How The RM 50 billion Petronas Dividend Is Utilised.
The general election should not be called this year to avoid turning the 2023 Budget presentation into an Election Budget designed primarily not to resolve the country’s economic problems but to bolster the election prospects of the Prime Minister and his party.
With the extra RM 25 billion in dividend payments from Petronas to the government, totalling RM 50 billion for 2022, there is valid concern that the RM 50 billion public funds will be used not for the benefit of the rakyat, but squandered for political interests.
The rakyat must take back the spirit of Merdeka from unscrupulous politicians and ensure full accountability of the utilisation and spending of the RM 50 billion payment from Petronas.