KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has four short years to carry out policy changes and institutional reforms beneficial to all Malaysians, Malays and non-Malays before the 16th General Elections in 2027, said DAP veteran Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.
In a statement issued today, Kit Siang said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) of PAS and Bersatu have failed in its grandest plan to use the recently concluded six state polls on August 12, to topple Anwar as the 10th Prime Minister to replace him with Muhyiddin Yassin, who in ten months, downgraded Malaysia’s Transparency International ranking to 62nd position in its 2020 Corruptioh Perception Index
Although the PN plan to form the state governments in Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Penang were foiled, it made inroads on all the six states.
Kit Siang reiterated his call that Anwar’s Madani Ekonomi be presented for debate and approval in the Special Parliament next month.
For the purpose the parliamentary debate on Madani Ekonomi, the Reports of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) and the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) in 2018 should be declassified and made publicly available.
This declassification of the CEP and IRC Reports by the Anwar Unity Government is urgent and necessary, as it was never the original intention to classify both the CEP and IRC reports under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and kept them away from public debate and discussion.
A strong case can be made that Mahathir Mohamad as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government which came to power in 2018, has betrayed the wishes of the people for institutional reforms by locking the CEP and IRC reports under the OSA.
“I had made numerous calls for the publication of the CEP and IRC Reports, the first time as far back as 13th October 2018, when I cited the CEP Chairman, Daim Zainuddin, as calling on the government to make the CEP recommendations available to the public.
“The Anwar Unity Government has no reason whatsoever to continue to place the CEP and IRC Reports under the OSA,” Kit Siang said.
“I had always been mystified as to why Mahathir had refused to ask the Cabinet and the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council to declassify the CEP and IRC reports, unless he had always been a “closet” enemy of institutional reforms in Malaysia.
“Why should there be such secrecy on matters of clear public interest with regard to the hundreds of recommendations related to governance, integrity and corruption prevention in the CEP and IRC reports?”
Kit Siang also suggested that it will be a great 66th National Day present to the people of Malaysia if the CEP and IRC reports are declassified before August 31, 2023.
“Although the Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders and MPs had tried their level best to create political instability by further polarising the racial and religious situation in Malaysia, the Anwar Unity Government has survived these threats so far.
“I am more confident now at the Anwar unity Government will last five years, although this cannot be taken for granted as a second Sheraton Move political conspiracy lies in every nook and corner.
“The 10th Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, must keep his promise when he was appointed Prime Minister that he would not compromise on good governance, the anti-corruption drive, judicial independence and the welfare of ordinary Malaysians, which is why he should declassify the CEP and IRC reports of 2018.”
— WE