Cast your net wider for a new leader, Zaid

Disillusioned with Ku Li, Zaid now pins hope on Harapan or ex-Umno PM

SteveOh: Former minister Zaid Ibrahim, you were wrong and you can be wrong again. As they say, two heads are better than one.

If you must play the role of nominating chairperson, do at least get some erudite Malaysians in your nominating committee. Many Pakatan politicians got to where they are by default and they are not the creme de la creme of those who are anti-BN.

There are many qualified Malaysians in and out of the country able to run the government. Cast your net wider and begin to scout more widely for those who may be willing to serve their country.

Don’t presume your opinions will be received as oracles and that the opposition politicians will do what you say. But you have a fighting chance they will listen to you if you don’t make another faux pas with your choice of leader. If you discount Anwar Ibrahim, you must discount Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The latter is a loose missile and Anwar is unable to participate in politics. There are many others besides the people you know who may be suitable. Look harder.

Why has Zaid studiously failed to mention a non-Muslim as a possible contender for the leader of Pakatan Harapan, for example, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng or Gobind Singh Deo?

Malays can only improve their lot if they reject racism and religious bigotry. Malays must realise that to date they have been willing pawns in an exploitation game by the Umno oligarchy who use false notions of ‘Ketuanan Melayu and Islam’ to divide and rule and at the same time mentally shackle the Malays and depress them economically.

Malays will see their lot and that of other citizens improving only through good governance and the acceptance of equal rights for all citizens. Otherwise the Citizens’ Declaration will be nothing more than ‘all sound and fury signifying nothing’.

6th Generation Immigrant: Zaid, your aim should be to ensure fair and transparent elections are held immediately after the removal of PM Najib Abdul Razak.

Elections should be held as almost originally scheduled, but not before a revamp of the Election Commission is completed.

A council of individual MPs formed from all currently elected political parties (including Umno), and a leader amongst them nominated as the interim PM should manage the day-to-day running of the country till the elections.

After elections, the party with the majority should form the government, while the (any) MP who can command the biggest respect and support of the House should then be elected prime minister (not necessarily from the majority winner).

This is the only way the Citizens’ Declaration organisers can toe the line of the constitution and not be seen as usurping the good along with the bad.

The final solution lies in a fair and transparent elections. A new leader shall surely prevail when hegemony of the old diminishes.

Aziz Kader: Zaid, it’s not for you or Mahathir to decide who will be the next PM. Let’s focus on changing the system instead of changing the PM.

Benghazi: Which Pakatan leader are you thinking, Zaid? As I see it, one by one, the Pakatan leaders are being charged with either sedition or leaking dirty secrets of the rogue government. Eventually they will be put in jail, thereby depriving the rakyat of clean leadership.

Why are we so unfortunate to be in this predicament? The Iceland PM has already resigned over a much less serious misdemeanour, but our PM still hangs on to the tiger’s tail.

Urkidding: Look at Saifuddin Abdullah. I was tracking him since he was a deputy minister. He is an eligible candidate to shoulder great responsibility.

His vision of building a true Malaysia for all is beyond doubt. Saifuddin should play that critical role from now on.

LifeFlier: Should the opposition team go back to drawing board, they must first decide a precise plan to reform and rebuild Malaysia, only then decide on which capable politician with respect, credibility and has solid support from the people to be the flag-bearer leading in front.

Stop putting the cart before the horse. Examples of key areas that should be covered in the master plan with specific goals are, overhaul of the constitution and laws, integrity and enforcement, education, economy and finance, security and defence, spiritual wellness development, etc.

The declaration should summarise and capture the essence of the master plan and be presented to the people.

We should completely leave the details of 1MDB debacle and our intention for Najib to step down as lesson learnt or immediate strategy in the appendix, we should not let the rubbish of the past distract our focus on the body of the declaration.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.