Mahathir and Anwar speak as one

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan will continue to fight to return the mandate of the people to the right party, say Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a joint statement.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman and the PKR president said currently, institutional reforms, rule of law and the economy had been disrupted due to certain parties having their own agendas.

“The mandate of the people has been betrayed and the Pakatan government fell last February when Covid-19 was starting to affect the country.

“The government today would do anything to consolidate power.

“We do not recognise this government. Our principles are clear from day one that this government was formed that it is standing without the people’s mandate, ” they said in a statement yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the day Pakatan won the 14th General Election that toppled Barisan Nasional.

They noted that the current government was not obtained legally through the ballot box in a general election, adding that it was based on greed for positions.

“We do not want to sacrifice our morals and ethics to support this government.

“We do not want to betray the people who had queued hours at voting stations to vote, spent hundreds to fly back to vote, took unpaid leave to come back to change the fate of this country, ” they said.

The two added that two years ago, people from different religions and races had come together to support their effort by, among others, donating, to see the change in the country.

“Two years ago, we did not give up to let the voices of the people be heard. Today is the same. We have long rejected differences, disputes, crisis for the people.

“We are now old, we do not have a lot of time. But the fighting spirit still burns in the souls of young people who dream of reform. The time has come for us to rise up again and to continue to return the mandate of the people to the right party, ” they said.

They also noted that on May 9, the world witnessed history when Malaysia formed a new government that upheld the rule of law, moral values and responsibility, adding that May 9 was also not just an event that remembered the unity between each Malaysian but an event that lifted the fate and the future of the people, as well as to fight injustice in the country.

They also said that when Pakatan ruled, they made sure democracy thrived, adding that the Dewan Rakyat was given a new life; institutional reform and public administration became the heart of the country, the states were given equal attention across political lines and there was freedom of speech.

“All this became the priority of the Pakatan government, ” they said.