The opposition must first settle the differences among themselves before they can come up with common policies and effective plans in taking the country forward.
United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang said this includes the handling of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the recovery of the economy.
“The opposition does not have much time left as the 15th General Election (GE15) would be anytime soon.
“We must be prepared and our grassroots must start acting now. It is high time for the opposition parties to unite. We must act as one voice,” he said in a statement.
He took an example of the recent political turmoil which led to the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, and the opposition parties had made the decision to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the candidate for the ninth Prime Minister.
He said, the opposition coalition collectively managed to garner the support of 105 Members of Parliament (MP) but it was not enough to elevate Anwar as the next Prime Minister.
“In hindsight, it is safe to say that there is room for improvement. There is no doubt that in the beginning, there was a bit of internal competition and confusion in the opposition itself on the selection of the PM candidate, which had ultimately hurt all the parties in the opposition.
“However, that was in the past. Let this be a lesson to us all. Let us not repeat the same mistake, especially in GE15,” he said.
Felix added Upko Youth welcomed Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) proposal that all opposition parties should work together and join the coalition.
“This proposal warrants for serious consideration from all opposition parties so that we all can have a common agenda – to provide a real and solid alternative for the people to choose as their next government in the upcoming GE15,” he said while calling on all the other opposition parties to accept the proposal.
Felix stressed that Upko Youth would always stand firmly behind the party.
“This can be seen in our decision to stand by the top leadership’s decision to leave Barisan Nasional (BN) and become a PH-friendly party on May 10, 2018. That was a principled decision which still remains until today.
“On behalf of Upko Youth, we as one of the party’s wings will remain steadfast in our stand to support the top leadership’s decision to work with parties that fight for multi-racial ideologies and pursue the same agenda. This is very much in line with the rebranding of the party.
“We at the Youth level will continue to work with Upko’s members and leaders in their struggles to defend Malaysia, so that the people will enjoy freedom and development, regardless of their race and religion,” he said. – NST
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