Rein in the troublemakers, Najib

Gone are the days when people always assume that what the government says is correct, truthful and good.

The BN government should stop rallies that are meant to whip up racial and religious sentiments. It is the government who always say that race and religion are sensitive issues so it is only right that rallies of such nature be disallowed.

“BN as a political party must not think that it can do as it likes. This is year 2014. People have already woken up to the era of new politics. Don’t try to start any nonsense because the nation will fall,” said Khalid Samad the PAS Shah Alam MP.

He also warned any parties attempting any nonsense to face up to the fact that Selangor voters can see through their ploy.

That is certainly true. These days the rakyat, especially the poor, are busy focusing on food prices, housing, jobs, children’s needs and loan repayments because many are struggling to survive.

Nizar Jamaluddin, a PAS lawmaker from Perak told BN not to play a fool or take the rakyat as fools.

“BN leaders and the NGOs aligned to them must not take the rakyat for granted as this is the 21st century,” commented Nizar.

The government especially Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must come out strongly to warn off those attempting to use race and religion to gain political mileage. He must also really solve the problem of the soaring cost of living. It is futile to just check on prices here and there on an ad-hoc basis.

The grocery shop owner in a corner of Kepong Baru or Pokok Sena is not going to bother with the Deputy Prime Minister or any other government minister checking on prices of the goods being sold in their shops.

It is all a waste of time and a mere publicity ploy to fill up the newspaper pages with BN leaders’ pictures for rural consumption. This propaganda stunt will only succeed in influencing the gullible.

There is also no necessity to set up any special committee to look into the problem of the rising cost of living. As mentioned in a previous article, all the government needs to do is to bring down the RON95 petrol price and the electricity tariff.

But as the government is not going to do that, then their heroics is akin to King Canute trying to turn back the waves for it is 100% impossible to stop the price hikes and the rise of inflation.

In the meantime, there are some quarters that are trying their utmost to divert the price hikes issue by turning the rakyat’s attention to race and religion issues.

Although temporarily the rakyat’s attention might be diverted, it is still back to earthly matters after being side-tracked for one week the most. Heaven can wait as we are waging a daily battle on earth to combat the assault on our daily expenditure.

Still, PAS is ever vigilant.

No plan, no vision

In a hint at the troublemakers who aim to ignite racial tension, PAS information chief, Mahfuz Omar has issued a stern warning by saying: “We know what they are thinking. And we are monitoring them closely. They would be foolish to think about it, what more to attempt it.”

Indeed, those who think of sabotaging the rakyat for their own selfish gains had better think twice as this time the opposition is stronger than in the era immediately post-Independence.

Moreover, the citizens are wiser too and the price hikes have lessened the number of gullible voters among the general urban and semi-urban public.

PAS too is stronger now than in the old days.

Selangor PAS, with Khalid Samad being one of the outstanding moderate voices, has come out to state that no one should attempt to stir trouble and those who do so will have their names and political affiliations exposed.

The BN government must be constantly reminded that this is not the bygone era.

Take for instance the South Pole visit by Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said. Netizens have blasted him for wasting taxpayers’ money for a questionable venture.

These days people do not treat the government as God. Gone are the days when people always assume that what the government says is correct, truthful and good.

The government is slowly alienating themselves from the ordinary rakyat due to its arrogance and know-it-all attitude. This is because PM Najib seems to have no plan or vision in mind.

Nizar described the Prime Minister as being “dazed and confused and in the process is leading us on to the edge of the cliff and he also looks as if he is taking instructions from someone else.”

At the end of the day, PM Najib must rein in the troublemakers.

Failure to do so will show him up as being weak, helpless and hopeless.

What will become of the nation then? He should take note that we are already falling behind many of our Asean neighbours, including Myanmar.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.