Pakatan Harapan must adopt the formula which succeeded in toppling a seemingly invincible Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election to vanquish the new UMNNO-PAS offensive in the politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion

Pakatan Harapan must adopt the formula which succeeded in toppling a seemingly invincible Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election to vanquish the new UMNO-PAS offensive in the politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion.

If Pakatan Harapan can defeat the politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion of Barisan Nasional and PAS, albeit carried out separately, in the 14th General Election, there is no reason why it cannot counter the joint UMNO-PAS campaign of lies, hate, fear, race and religion.

Before the 14th General Election, UMNO was confident of victory because it was confident that its campaign of lies, fake news, hate and fear revolving around the following theme, viz:

• that the DAP was the dominant political party in Pakatan Harapan, and that the other three parties in Pakatan Harapan, viz PKR, Amanah and Bersatu were just stooges at the beck and call of DAP;
• that the Malay leaders in Pakatan Harapan viz Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Azmin Ali and Mohamad Sabu were mere puppets of the of the Chinese leaders of DAP;
• That I would become Prime Minister if Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election;
• that Malays will lose political power and will perish, becoming strangers in their own land in a Pakatan Harapan government;
• that I was the arch-enemy of the Malays and Islam, even accused of leading anti-Malay street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur that sparked the May 13, 1969 riots in the federal capital when I was never in Kuala Lumpur during the period; and
• At various times, I was accused of being a communist (even the lie that I was a relative to MCP Secretary-General Chin Peng), that I wanted a Christian Malaysia when I am not a Christian and multiple agents of foreign powers!

But these lies, falsehoods and fake news could not prevent Pakatan Harapan from getting the support of one-third of the Malay electorate to achieve the political decision to oust Barisan Nasional from Putrajaya and an opportunity to reset nation building policies in 60 years.

It is this hope of a New Malaysia as contained in the election manifesto which propelled Pakatan Harapan to Putrajaya, to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity; restore the rule of law; entrench democracy; reform the educational system to make Malaysia a top world-class nation; close the gap between the rich and the poor and to unite Malaysians of diverse races, religions and cultures and leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, cultures and civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a new global civilization.

In the past 10 months, Malaysians have begun to wonder whether they have placed false hopes on Pakatan Harapan in the building of a New Malaysia which will be beneficial to all Malaysians as well as to all communities and groups in Malaysia.

If in the next four years, Pakatan Harapan adopt the formula which led to the historic victory and decision of May 9, 2018 to build a New Malaysia and not diverted from its course of action by the baseless lies, hate and fear engendered by UMNO and PAS, popular support for a New Malaysia will increase.

With stamina, perseverance and commitment to be fair and just to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region in the building of a New Malaysia, there is no reason why Pakatan Harapan cannot secure even greater electoral support in the 15th General Election, including the increase of the support of the Malay electorate to the majority level.