GE15: Let's not forget previous 'New Malaysia' aspirations, says Bernard Dompok

Dompok (standing) speaking at the ceramah for Benedick (seated left).

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysians have been urged to revive Pakatan Harapan's Malaysia Baru (New Malaysia) dream by returning the mandate to them.

Speaking at a ceramah in Penampang near here on Monday night (Nov 7), Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the 15th General Election (GE15) the people were at a crossroads and had to decide if they want to return power to a government voted in by them in the 2018 General Election.

The former Upko president said after Pakatan's short-lived 22-month reign, there had been many changes in government.

"First of all, you had the New Malaysia. Then another Malaysia came up, known as the 'Malaysia of Abah'," he said, referring to the Perikatan Nasional federal government led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

"And now, we are in the Keluarga Malaysia government (led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob). What kind of Malaysia comes next?

"What I recommend is that we go back to the New Malaysia that the people voted for in 2018," Dompok said.

The former Sabah chief minister said this while campaigning for Datuk Ewon Benedick, the Pakatan candidate for the Penampang parliamentary seat and incoming Upko president.

Dompok was part of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's Federal Cabinet, serving as the plantation industries and commodities minister from 2009 to 2013.

Previously, he also served as a minister in the prime minister's department from 1999 to 2009 as well as the country's first ambassador to the Vatican from 2016 to 2018.