Warisan MP: Opposition needs to protect reputation after 'strong majority' faux pas

With PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's failure to materialise "a strong, formidable and convincing majority", a Warisan MP has declared that the opposition needs to protect its reputation,

Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (above), who made the call, is not alone in her views, as a Sabah DAP assemblyperson also expressed a similar opinion.

In her statement last night, Isnaraissah said the call by Warisan president Shafie Apdal for a leadership change in the opposition was not meant to cause rifts in Pakatan Harapan.

Instead, she said, the party was only voicing out its concerns on the opposition's performance, and the need to protect their strongest asset - a reputation based on credibility.

"The continuous non-realisation of 'taking over the government on September 16, having enough numbers of MPs, strong formidable and convincing majority, the purposeful tactic of allowing the budget to pass in the second reading, attempting to defeat the budget in committee stage' and so on, as announced in numerous press conferences and including at the audience with the Yang diPertuan Agong, will definitely tarnish the credibility and reputation of the rest of the opposition parties.

"This will cause the voters to feel disillusioned," Isnaraissah said in a statement yesterday.

Though no names were mentioned, the remarks were clearly aimed at PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who in September announced he had the numbers to form a new government.

However, Anwar has failed to produce these numbers, including last week when the opposition was beaten 111-108 during the final bloc vote on the third reading of Budget 2021.

Shafie has been making calls for the opposition to change its leadership.

Yesterday, a Harapan presidential council meeting was also cancelled after a joint DAP-Amanah statement calling for a "political reset" caused unease.

In a statement yesterday, DAP's Luyang assemblyperson Phoong Jin Zhe said Anwar's majority faux pas had disappointed the people.

"The great disappointment of the people towards Harapan is triggered by old, traditional politics.

"The opposition leader who stated he had a 'strong, formidable and convincing' majority has been mocked as 'the boy who cried wolf', while senior politicians lying, to gain power and making extreme racial and religious comments, have been worsening lately," he said.

Echoing the need for a political reset, Phoong said that to restore the people's confidence, the opposition needs to embrace new politics.

This includes having "new leaders, new policies, a new mindset, and a fresh team" to rebuild the country together, he said.