Narrowing of the opposition-ruling party gap is healthy
Published on: Sunday, April 22, 2018
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G25 calls on all eligible voters to come out in full force on Wednesday, May 9, to exercise their democratic duty of voting in the 14th General Election.
Although voting is not compulsory in Malaysia, it is a responsibility which all eligible voters should carry out for the sake of our future as a free, democratic country with a government that is elected by the people and for the people.
Election day has been declared a public holiday but voters who live far away from their constituencies may need more than one day off work if travel time to their districts and their mode of transport are taken into consideration.
We appeal to all employers to be lenient in granting leave for those living far, and to provide any reasonable assistance they may need to enable employees to travel to their voting districts.
The Elections Commission will be responsible for ensuring that the elections are free and fair to reflect the true choice of the people in the government they want for their country.
GE14 will be closely watched by the world, especially with the unfavourable reports in foreign media about the country’s financial controversies.
We, hope and pray that the elections will be free of undesirable incidents so that the country can put aside the divisive politics to concentrate on building a better future for all Malaysians, with all races living in harmony as a truly united nation.
In particular, whichever party comes into power, we expect it to carry out the pledges in its campaign manifesto to introduce various reforms for good governance and rule of law, accompanied by specific measures to strengthen human rights and eliminate all forms of discrimination.
We wish all political parties a healthy competition in reaching out to the electorate without exploiting the issues of race and religion.
Today’s generation of Malaysians have more respect for politicians who win seats using clean politics than for those who use money to bribe voters.
G25 calls upon the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police to ensure that all candidates obey the law in their election campaigns.
Malaysian elections are entering a new era where the results are getting close between the ruling and opposition parties.
This trend should be welcomed as a healthy sign of our maturing democracy.
G25 hopes all parties will accept this new reality as it reflects the feelings among the people that they are more comfortable with balanced representation at both federal and state levels.
We believe that a government with a strong opposition will serve the country better in bringing economic and social justice to the people.
Many in G25 are former senior civil servants who held various positions in the Government.
We are proud of the tradition of loyal service to King and country despite the several changes at the political level.
We hope this tradition will be continued irrespective of which party forms the next government.
G25 Malaysia
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