Thursday April 3, 2008
Don’t desert Pak Lah in this trying time
WHILE I have much respect and admiration for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for having brought us out of the woods during his 22 years tenure as Prime Minister, what is happening on the political scene of the country now has much to do with him as much as the present leaders.
He is as much to be praised and as much to be blamed for all the happenings now. As the Prime Minister, he was never soft towards anyone and anything to ensure his visions come to reality. Anyone who comes into his way will have to face his wrath.
I am all for his calls for reforms within Umno. There is no other way for Umno to survive the onslaught except to reform itself. One of the ways to reform is to go back to the grassroots and ensure they are well taken care of.
Never neglect them for if that happens, such as what happened at the recent general election, from a dominant party, Umno suddenly becomes so irrelevant that it is hard even for its allies to swallow.
What is needed now is for Umno to focus itself on rebuilding its image so drastically that even those young and middle class Malays who are Umno members but who voted for the Opposition will feel so guilty for having done so that they will surely vote Umno back into power at the next general election.
Although Pak Lah is perceived as a weak leader and has much to be blamed for the fiasco at the last election, he must be given another chance to redeem himself even though Dr Mahathir has constantly called for his resignation. He is not playing the game fairly.
Malaysians still remember when Dr Mahathir cried on the podium at an Umno General Assembly and wanted to resign. Everyone backed him and urged him to stay on. Within hours, he reversed his decision and stayed on. What happened then was no different from what is happening to Pak Lah now.
While Dr Mahathir had the love and the backing of the people then, we should do the same for Pak Lah now. Pak Lah is facing a trying time and this is when he needs us most. We must not desert him. In fact, those who call for Pak Lah to step down are the ones who are directly or indirectly responsible for the turnaround of Umno now.
Dr Mahathir calls on the people to voice more of their discontentment now and not be afraid to do so. Likewise, when Pak Lah tells the people to voice their opinions so long as it does not run foul of the law, the people are still afraid to do so.
This is the legacy that Dr Mahathir has left. During his tenure, anyone who dared to speak against him would face the might of the Internal Security Act (ISA). The same is happening now, for the hideous law is still in force and there are many people still detained under this Act.
If Pak Lah is to be made responsible for the setbacks of the ruling parties during the recent general election, then Dr Mahathir must be responsible for having made it more difficult for Pak Lah to rule.
MOHD GHAZALI OSMAN,
Ipoh.
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