In a Facebook post, the Pasir Gudang MP said he believed party leaders when they said they would not compromise on their principles for the sake of winning power.

However, he said, he was shocked to find a different narrative recently with certain people speaking of “realpolitik” and being Macchiavellian.

Hassan admitted that he had been naive.

“I took a wooden box next to my bed and folded and kept every pamphlet and texts of my speeches which cried ‘Reformasi, reformasi’ for nearly a quarter of a century now.

“Now I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed to speak these words of wisdom (kata-kata keramat) anymore.

“Half my soul is dead. I feel defeated amid a victory without integrity like this,” said the two-term MP.

After unveiling his Cabinet last Friday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had drawn flak for appointing Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as a deputy prime minister because of the Umno president’s ongoing court case.

Bersih had also slammed Anwar for taking on the finance portfolio, saying the PKR president had reverted to a “bad practice” started by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, continued by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and “grossly abused” by Najib Razak.