Gopal Raj Kumar's Open letter to Tun

Open letter to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Dear Tun,

There’s nothing that I say that will come as a surprise to you for you have heard it all, seen it all, and done it all before. But I feel compelled to share some thoughts with you with the hope that you can show me the flaw in my arguments.

I refer to your recent reported attempts to pass a vote of no confidence in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and to your continuing attempts to unseat him as Prime Minister.

Let’s go back a little to May 2018.  That was the year of the 14th general election. Pakatan Harapan claimed its legitimate victory and you were its choice for Prime Minister.

But a sizable number of people, for one reason or another, did not cast their vote and nor did they vote for you or Pakatan Harapan. Yet, they accepted the outcome of that GE and moved on with their lives.

That’s the democracy that we practice.

But two years later, the PH government reneged on its pre-election promises.  Despite the broken promises, no one, not even the people who voted for your party, demanded fresh elections.

They accepted the fact that PH was still the legitimate government and they were willing to wait till it was time again to go to the polling stations.

Their only wish was that, in the meantime, the PH Government will govern and govern justly.

That’s the system of democracy we cherish.

Then you resigned.

Neither the people nor the parliament passed a vote of no confidence in you, but for whatever reason, you threw in the towel.  Your resignation created a vacuum, and that vacuum had to be filled out of necessity. Politics like nature abhors a vacuum.

The people needed a Government, and political stability.

And in keeping with his duties, the Yang Dipertuan Agong stepped in and appointed you as the Interim Prime Minister. Acting responsibly and in complying with due process in such a situation, the Yang Dipertuan Agong appointed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as his Prime Minister.

That is how our parliamentary democratic process works.

Pakatan Nasional has been governing now (and I must say quite well) for several months, despite the very challenging times brought on by the pandemic and your continued attempts at disrupting the business of government.

You now wish to topple Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin? Why?

Toppling a duly appointed government in circumstances of your own making is not the people’s wish. They appear willing to wait till the next elections are held to exercise their collective will.

In doing what you are doing by frustrating a legitimate government in the exercise of its functions and obligations, aren’t you usurping the people’s rights?

The people did not give you the mandate to decide for them who should form the government of the day. They cast their votes and decided in MY 2018 what they wanted.

Notably for someone hiding behind the politics of consensus in government, you did not seek or secure the people’s views before deciding to quit as Prime Minister.

You were elected to fulfill the people’s wishes for the full term of your mandate in government. Your mandate was not to thwart or frustrate their wishes or to disrupt any government.

If you wish to have another chance at leading the govt (after two chances), then why not wait for the next general elections in which you will have a fair opportunity to have what you still claim as your mandate, to be tested by popular vote.

That is what a true democracy is about.

Don’t frustrate, obfuscate the people’s choice, wishes, hopes, against their will.That’s undemocratic.

Gopal Raj Kumar

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June 15, 2020