Tawfik Yaakub of Universiti Malaya said Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) strategies were the same “old political narratives” that had seen Malaysia having four different prime ministers from 2020 to 2022.
He said politicians should learn from Indonesia’s peaceful transition of power, describing former president Joko Widodo and his successor Prabowo Subianto as magnanimous leaders who had navigated a smooth transition.
Tawfik added that the Anwar Ibrahim administration need not heed the pressure from PN but should focus on growing the economy.
“Such moves (to destabilise the government) are cheap, nauseating, immature politics. (The opposition should) allow (Anwar) and the unity government to complete its term governing the country,” he told FMT.
Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Ariff Aizuddin Azlan agreed, saying the stability in the country should be preserved after the political volatility seen from 2020 to 2022.
“The most mature approach is to position political discourse in the realm of education, by promoting knowledge to educate Malaysians to think rationally, rather than dragging them into the streets and causing public unease,” he said.
He added that schemes to topple the government would affect economic recovery efforts, worry investors, and erode the people’s confidence in Malaysia’s development.
Last month, Perak PAS chief Razman Zakaria drew brickbats after claiming there were ongoing efforts to topple the unity government.
At a party event on Dec 22, Razman urged PAS’s cybertroopers on TikTok to continue their efforts in “informing” the people, saying the priority was to take over the government “before the next general election”.
More recently, PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari urged Anwar to resign as prime minister over the purported addendum order allowing Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Following the Pahang palace’s confirmation of the addendum, Fadhli said its existence reflected the government’s dishonesty and was a serious violation of Najib’s right to a fair trial and justice.
Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin also accused Anwar of concealing the addendum, claiming that it amounted to treason against the monarchy and the nation.