KUALA LUMPUR— The National Patriots Association (Patriot) criticised Pakatan Harapan (PH) components and politicians today for being directionless and contradicting each other during recent communal controversies.
Its president, Brig Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamad Arshad Raji, noted that some groups were becoming radical in their demands for Malay rights, such as the mass rally to oppose the government’s plan to ratify the United Nation International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
“PH could have spoken in unison on the decisions taken by the Cabinet.
“Either a narrative on how our nation should move forward is unclear, or each tried to be individual heroes instead of providing the leadership that our society very much needed of them,” he said in a statement today.
Another example cited by Mohamad Arshad was the Seafield temple riot that started off as a land dispute, before it was turned into a racial issue to demand the resignations of Indian ministers.
“Hate speeches have become overly fiery and often devoid of rationale.
“These are works of sponsored thuggish behaviour and hooliganism intent on creating chaos that will benefit those who have been and will be indicted for their crimes against the nation,” he said.
However, he commended Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent call for the Malays to change their value system in order to succeed.
“Positive values are the very foundation of success for any community, groups and the nation as a whole,” he said.
He said therefore the government must devise a long-term strategy to steer the nation forward and solve the many problems inherited from the previous regime.
“Our nation is moving into a new year with a rising global interest rate, a weak stock market, a contracting world economy and a trade war between of the world’s two superpowers.
“Within our country, a weakening ringgit, a shrinking job market and a declining oil price threaten a situation that is both inflationary and an indication of stagnating growth,” he said, adding that Malaysia also has a RM1 trillion debt to manage.
Despite the bleak outlook for 2019, Mohamad Arshad urged Malaysians to close ranks in order to face the imminent hardship.
“If we stay united, the hardship will be shared and its impact lessened. Patriot urges all Malaysians to think globally and stay united, and together we shall weather the storm ahead,” he said.
[Source : MALAY MAIL]
