Speaking at an event here today, Hishamuddin Rais said all hopes and dreams of reforms evaporated after the 22-month old administration fell on Feb 24.

He said that historians 100 years from now would look back on the events of 2020 as a tragicomedy in which the “people’s victory” of May 9, 2018 had been snatched away by a “lust” to be prime minister.

“We have to learn from our mistakes. Let us not be easily trapped by those wearing robes who are filled with religious rhetoric,” he said at the launch of a social organisation called Daya Masyarakat today.

Hishamuddin said the political landscape had changed because of two “viruses” – Covid-19 and the “PM virus” – which led to the political crisis.

The Pakatan Harapan government in power since the 2018 election fell on the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the coalition chairman and prime minister.

Under an agreement struck prior to the general election, Mahathir was to hand over power to Anwar Ibrahim at an unspecified date. The question of the handover date would feature frequently during Pakatan Harapan’s short stint in power.

PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who is Daya chairman, said Malaysians should commit to rebuilding hopes so that the sacrifices of the past decades were not wasted.

He said Daya would be a social movement to unite all NGOs “to restore the strength we built up before”.