Former Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim said this in his latest blog posting when commenting on the call by Anwar Ibrahim that Opposition parties stay united in their fight against BN after taking a beating in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections due to split votes in both constituencies.
Zaid also said Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir, just sacked from Umno, should not bother finding a new political platform to fight BN as what was needed more was a new political struggle of substance.
“Find a new political struggle. Find the substance,” Zaid implored.
“Getting as many non-Barisan Nasional political parties as possible to gang up for the purpose of winning an election (the usual method) is not my idea of a united Opposition,” he said, adding it was more a “politics of convenience” than anything else.
“You will be united only superficially; and when the votes are counted and you still can’t get into Putrajaya, you will split up.”
He said the Opposition could only be described as “united” if they could agree on core issues and key principles that included the desire to keep Malaysia a true democracy instead of a “dictatorship fuelled by Taliban fascism in the cloak of religion” as it was today.
“Religion, whether by law or fatwa, must not be allowed to determine public policy. Muftis must be told of their proper places,” he added.
He said agreement was also required on the Rule of Law being applied across the board to even the prime minister and that preventive detention or laws on secrecy that protected corrupt leaders must be done away with.
Zaid added, “They (Opposition parties) must want a Malaysia that has an independent Election Commission as well as, police and other enforcement agencies” besides agreeing to outlaw “racial, religious and other discrimination” as well as eradicate corruption at all levels.
He also spoke of the seriousness of forming a Shadow Cabinet and added, “We need to wake up the voters that there are real alternatives. If the Opposition could not agree as to the future PM, then that means they can’t agree on the core political struggles; and so they might as well forget the idea of capturing Putrajaya.”
Skeptical however that any such agreement could be reached among Opposition parties, Zaid said that if this was the case, former Premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his allies would have to “go it alone.”
“Tun Dr Mahathir has now the best chance to give birth to a new Malaysia (and to redeem himself) if he truly wants all Malaysians to live together happily, as equals, to become a prosperous and liberal democracy as stated in Vision 2020.”