Ramasamy: ‘Baby boy’ Syed Saddiq lacks knowledge on politics and democracy
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman should respect the succession agreement.
He should also learn to close his gap rather than questioning the democratic rights of PKR and DAP leaders, who are merely asking Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to honour the transition agreement.
No one is forcing Mahathir to leave office at once, but they want him to fix a handover date to the next in line, who is PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In accordance with the agreement in Pakatan, hatched before the last general election, Mahathir was to be an interim prime minister for about two years, before he hands over the post to Anwar.
But unfortunately until today, the Pakatan presidential council has yet to fix a date for the power transition.
Now whose fault is this?
Even if Mahathir wants to handover power after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, a date must be set.
What is wrong in setting a definitive date for the power transition?
I am sure Mahathir has no problem with this, but Syed Saddiq seems to be jumping up and down to earn some brownie points from Mahathir.
As a minister, his performance leaves much to be desired for. Perhaps he should look at himself first before commenting about others.
I do not think that he is overly concerned whether Mahathir hands over power or not, but certainly wants jump on the bandwagon for reasons he knows best.
And I do not think asking for a succession date brings about regime instability or making it difficult for Mahathir to do his job.
If Syed Saddiq believes in democracy, he must respect dissent.
The momentous regime change in 2018 would not have been possible without the Reformasi movement, ignited by none other than Anwar.
Without PKR and DAP joining forces, there was no way to BN could have been politically toppled.
I suppose Syed Saddiq is too much of a newcomer to understand and appreciate the political dynamics of the Reformasi era, let alone understand the context in which Mahathir was made the interim prime minister.
Mahathir provided a crucial leadership in the absence of Anwar to take on BN. Malaysians wanting change supported Mahathir.
After the losses in five by-elections, there is need to resolve the transition matter. The Pakatan presidential council must address this.
Anyway, who is Syed Saddiq to tell me as to what I can say and cannot say?
P Ramasamy is the deputy chief minister II of Penang
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online
