DAP Youth whacks Syed Saddiq
(FMT) – DAP Youth has taken Pakatan Harapan (PH) Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to task for asking PH to delay reforms.
Dapsy national executive council members Woo Kah Leong, Leong Yu Sheng and Tan Tiong Yih said the request by the youth and sports minister is inappropriate and would be seen as a betrayal of the trust of voters.
“Malaysians who took days off from work to travel back home and cast their votes for PH want to see changes now, not later.
“During the launch of Buku Harapan (Book of Hope), PH had promised various institutional reforms in black-and-white to rectify our flawed system.
“The 60-point election manifesto was a result of collaboration among the four component parties.
”Besides undermining the manifesto, Syed Saddiq has also disregarded the voters’ desire for a reformed ‘new Malaysia’,” they said in a joint statement today.
On Thursday, while speaking at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Syed Saddiq said PH could lose the next election if they were to push everything on their reform agenda in one go.
He said PH could not afford to lose sight of its electorate while embarking on efforts to reform the country, claiming it would spell disaster for the ruling coalition.
“You cannot be pushing all (reforms) at one go, and in the end lose all of the support which brought you into the government to begin with.”
Woo, Leong and Tan said Syed Saddiq must realise that the downfall of Barisan Nasional (BN) was because of its corrupt governance, abuse of power by its leaders and enforcing draconian laws that threatened democracy.
“The reason PH won in the general election is because of our reform agenda, and therefore failing to fulfil these reforms is an act of betrayal,” they said.
The Dapsy executive council members said Umno and PAS had been forced to work together and preach racial extremism because of their lack of political capital.
“This has caused a drop in PH’s Malay support but it shouldn’t be an excuse for PH not to reform the questionable policies left by BN.
“It would also be disappointing if PH were to introduce more conservative or race-based policies just to compete with Umno-PAS for Malay support,” they said.
They said Syed Saddiq should realise that fulfilling the reform agenda was the only way for the people to continue giving their support to PH.
“Delaying the reforms would mean slowing down our nation’s economic recovery and compromising our competency while making it harder to attract foreign investment to develop the nation.
“PH must fulfil its election manifesto, especially on institutional reforms, to end political corruption and reshape a new politics for the next generation.
“We urge PH to stand by its principles and make vigorous efforts to push for more progressive reforms.
“There should be no more excuses from PH leaders to rationalise race-based policies and remarks,” the statement added.
