'Harapan, as a coalition, was never really in power' - it handed the reins over to Mahathir to do as he wished

'Harapan, as a coalition, was never really in power'

YOURSAY | ‘'It had handed the reins over to Mahathir to do as he wished.'

COMMENT | How they made us feel

BobbyO: I once overheard a woman saying her relative should go back to her abusive and adulterous husband. Try to work it out, she said.

It reminded me of the state of affairs of this nation. The people have been abused and torn apart by these leaders. Even when change happens, it is the same leaders doing the same thing while promising the sun and stars.

Looking at things so far, there are no signs there will be any serious changes.

Even before the dust settled, the administration was already appealing against the High Court decision to give the rights of citizenship to the children of mothers married to foreigners. It clearly shows the contempt they have for these women and their rights.

What about the investigation of opposition MPs? In addition, a peaceful gathering to raise the issue of the number of Covid-19 deaths was forcefully stopped.

Why the double standards when it comes to those MPs in the ruling party when they break the laws? The people are watching as one after another MP charged with corruption is freed. They have not forgotten former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman and the catastrophe that followed upon his acquittal.

How can they forget the over 22,000 lives lost and counting? How many of them could have been saved if only those in power were more capable?

Over two million people came down with Covid. Imagine the fears they would have gone through until they recovered. Thousands more are still paying the price of getting infected. And there are those still suffering the after-effects of the disease.

And many more millions are paying the price of losing their income or having their income drastically reduced. It would be years before they can recover or even return to normalcy. They won't forget the acts of betrayal by those leaders involved in bringing down a legitimate administration.

The people are watching as they will not forget how the administration had been treating them. They will not allow themselves to be mistreated again.

Anon25: Former Malaysian Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan, nobody could have said it better.

Yes, the people picked Pakatan Harapan and it was a people's government. But then, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the then prime minister, was an unexpected disappointment.

With his new Malay-only party Bersatu, his acceptance of frogs from Umno, his racist tantrums, and finally, his refusal to hand over his job to Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim as promised shattered our hopes.

You clamour for more women in government. In my opinion, sad to say, there are very few of them, especially those willing to enter politics. Would you?

MS: A correction is necessary, Ambiga. Harapan, as a coalition, was never really in power. It had, for reasons we may only speculate, handed the reins over to Mahathir to do as he wished.

It was a near-total abdication when he airily dismissed the coalition's manifesto, often deriding it as a wishful document put together by those who didn’t think they would win.

And as a coalition, there was hardly a whimper when the then Bersatu home minister targeted DAP's Indian members with ludicrous charges under Sosma.

That and the brazen incident at the Seafield temple underscored the impotence of Harapan as it stood on the sidelines, like a helpless bystander afraid to cross the line and enter the fray.

We may one day get an inkling into what really happened behind the scenes with Mahathir’s machinations. But till then, it is best not to perpetuate the myth of a Harapan government.

Capo: Ambiga, early after Harapan’s victory, when PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli voiced out against Mahathir, you shut him up. I still remember Rafizi’s reply: "To shut the people's voices means we are going back to the BN era."

Ambiga, your retort was to let the new administration under Mahathir continue its work. You got charmed by the snake charmer and became his ardent disciple while muting voices of concern.

Had Mahathir been checked and leashed, we wouldn't be in this sordid mess, would we?

How do I feel about the hard-fought people's mandate being stolen? All traitors who betrayed us should pay.

MarioT: Indeed, those responsible for this betrayal of trust should be overwhelmingly defeated if they were to contest again.

It’s a good sign that Anwar has injected some young blood into the party and we hope more youngsters will join and be given a chance to contest in the next general election.

With the lowering of the voting age, the young people's vote will become a crucial factor in forging a truly Malaysian Family, which is currently severely divided by racial identity.

There is a vision of hope in the pipeline.