LETTER | An open letter to Anwar Ibrahim

LETTER | Dear sir,

The world is brimming with ambitious political leaders, but sadly, very few matchups to the traits of good leadership. In fact, many political leaders appear to be severely lacking in some of the most essential qualities of a good leader, such as integrity and accountability. Only a handful comes near to the principles of leadership.

Not many may agree with this but to 51 percent of those who turned up on May 9, 2018, you are one of those.

As you may be truly aware, political leadership requires a leader to focus on a country’s long-term betterment, above and beyond any short-term personal gains. Strong political leadership requires a mixture of charm and honesty which you have demonstrated to have. It also requires the capacity to evaluate a circumstance and make a judgment based on what will be better for the majority.

Above all, leadership in a democratic system needs statesmanship which implies possessing the honesty and ability to stand up for what is fair, even though it means resigning from or losing an election.

A successful leader has a visionary dream and understands how to turn his visions into success stories.

A political leader’s first goal should be representing one’s government, not just oneself. Given the reality that politics may be complicated and often messy, a strong leader should balance their actions with what is right for a nation and living by the maxim, “the nation before self”.

Consequently, a political leader will be able to take severe actions in the interest of the country if required. Leaders will have the correct expertise to take prompt and reasonable actions based on sound judgment.

In your time as the deputy prime minister, you develop a global perspective of things travelling widely, established valuable networks and expertise with other internationally renowned leaders attended important gatherings within the country and outside, guided, honoured, and listen to your supporters while encouraging mutual accountability and teamwork.

On that fateful day in September 1998, hundreds of thousands of Malaysians, from all walks of life, occupied one of Kuala Lumpur’s main arteries – the Merdeka Square - unlike anything seen in Malaysia, before protesting against actions against you. Again, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest when you were sentenced to 6 years in jail in April 1999.

Your journey culminated on that day on 9 May 2018 when after several attempts, the country finally saw a change in government. Unfortunately, events post-February 2020 denied you what apparently was an agreement for you to assume the mantle of leading the country as the eighth prime minister.

Since February 2020, nature charted a different course for the country. There was a change of prime ministers and the introduction of young people into the voting system, thus altering the voting landscape in the country for years to come.

In the two years since, the coalition known as BN makes an unprecedented return to politics nationally. To date, the coalition appears far ahead of its rivals including the coalition you lead and is projected to win the elections and return to power if the elections are to be held within the next six to nine months.

One data point stands out. Those who voted for the BN coalition did not appear to have lost trust in them while those who voted for your coalition either opted out from voting or voted for the BN coalition.

Even though he has become the most divisive figure, the sixth PM appears to play a leading role in the revival of the BN coalition portraying himself as a person with a heart and in the campaigns and rallies he attended in Malacca and Johor, never really intended to make fun of others or he never maligned anyone while the coalition you lead cried foul over the billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth and his conviction by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

He was accused of stealing billions from the state coffers, a claim he repeatedly denied even though authorities already have recovered billions in agreed settlements with parties connected to 1MDB.

His opponents repeatedly bring up his conviction which appears to be backfiring. Not because they like him more, it is just that when this is repeated once too often, it played to his claim that he was being victimised. And no one likes that. And voters approve of his promise to return the country to growth.

At present, it is almost impossible to distinguish between propaganda and genuine support for him. His supporters already argue that the return of BN to rule the country will signal that the country’s democracy is moving forward and looking to the future.

While the Pakatan Harapan coalition is still arguing that victory for BN signals democracy’s failure to hold corrupt politicians accountable and an indictment of the complete failure of this country to institute the rule of law.

The BN coalition has been advocating stability and returns to growth as a means of lifting the country from the economic doldrums of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Fifty-one percent of those who voted for the Harapan coalition in 2018 say a BN victory in the next general election would pose a huge threat to democracy and the well being of this country. Already, the country has experienced the incompetency of the last two governments.

What it needs badly but can never be done was action to cure its festering universal corruption. If the current crops of leaders from both sides of the divide were to continue ruling and managing this country, it will make this problem worse, not better.

Come the next and another general election in five years thereafter, a substantial portion of the voters in Malaysia would be those under 30. In the coming general election, the majority of these voters were not even born when you were sentenced to jail in 1999.

Thus, these voters never experienced the massive crackdown immediately following your removal from your post as deputy prime minister, the various corruption scandals preceding the 1MDB scandal and the economic slowdown known as the Asian Financial Crisis and the dotcom bubble in early 2000.

All these young voters are now active users on social platforms especially TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. To them, Harapan does not offer any refreshing choice. And they viewed the last and the present administration as a Perikatan Nasional coalition. Both failed to solve the deep-seated corruption that dominated the daily lives of so many Malaysians. Both fell short of fulfilling the fundamental ideals and aspirations of the rakyat.

BN has been selling the idea that the period ruled by them was the golden age of development while Harapan has become increasingly personalised over time behaving along ideological lines that are predictable with regard to stances on a variety of issues, limiting the ability of the coalition to manoeuvre.

The coming election is not just a battle for the nation’s narrative but the future of the generations of millennials and Gen Z in the country.

The world in the next few years will be radically transformed from our world today. No country, whether the US, China, or any other large country will be a hegemonic power. The empowerment of individuals and diffusion of power among states and from states to informal networks will have a dramatic impact, potentially restoring Asia’s weight in the global economy. Key features of our global environment will change affecting how the world works.

The future of work for your grandchildren will look very different to the one that your children are educated for right now. Those students would be learning how to think and thrive in the complex and interconnected world.

Do not let this new generation grows up loving the country but hating the government.

You and the present group of leaders owed it to the millennials and Gen Z and the generations subsequent to them for them to decide and determine how this country should be ruled and managed according to their collective ideals.

It is no longer about being the ‘glue’ that holds the coalition together. It was critical at that juncture as movements of people between parties where limited or rare and identification with parties was strong.

The world is moving so fast now that you have people moving from place to place in search of opportunities. Identification with parties will weaken further until a day when potentially all politicians will start seeing the political landscape in the country as one single coalition.

For your generation, the aspiration was for peace, prosperity and unity in the country. For the millennials and Gen Z, it is an aspiration of a world full of new technologies where they can be who they are, live where they like, love who they want and aim as high as they want and a more inclusive and open approach to the way the country works.

If you want to genuinely hope the country is able to compete and be amongst the best in the world, you need to catalyse a shift for parties in Harapan to be led by the millennials and Gen Z now so that they are equipped with strategies to practice and promote the country as soon as possible. The millennials and Gen Z will know how to invest in well-being projects because their children’s future demands it.

You can be assured that the millennials and Gen Z will continue with your vision of a nation where all citizens will be given due respect, regardless of sex, ethnicity, or disability. They have already demonstrated that they put others first with the work and initiatives they put in for the white flag movement and the flood relief programs nationwide.

Nothing shows your love for the country more than for you to offer the next generation of leaders in your party and the millennials and Gen Z supporting them now, to take over the leadership of your party now so that they can enter the next general election fully prepared with new ideas and ideals.

Allow this new generation of leaders time to create their own identifying image that defines how this country will look like with them ruling the country if they are voted into power.

Naming your daughter, Nurul Izzah to assume your mantle immediately will cement your legacy as a true leader who put his love for the country above all his other ambitions and aspirations.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.