DAP, PH must work together to fight corruption

SHAH ALAM - DAP together with Pakatan Harapan (PH) must respond to the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah’s decree by making the war against corruption the main agenda to win in the 15th General Election (GE15).

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said fighting corruption and instilling integrity among Malaysians must be at the heart of the PH administration.

In his speech at the DAP Special Congress today, he said the Perak Ruler recently said corruption in the country was at deangerous levels and has become a cancerous outbreak, thus stunting the economic growth and brought various bad effects on people’s lives.

“Unlike other parties, DAP opposes corruption regardless of race and religion. We hate corrupt people no matter if they are called Najib (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) or Jho Low (fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho).

“Those who receive or those who give (bribes) are both wrong, especially those who become the “mastermind”,” he said.

In the matter of respecting pluralism and diversity, he said the party needed to take Sabah and Sarawak as the best example as the two regions were the best manifestations of the Malaysian spirit that should be emulated in the Peninsula.

At the same time, he said the aspirations of the people in Sabah and Sarawak to fight for more administrative autonomy in order to preserve the uniqueness of the local community’s lives needed to be respected.

“We must uphold the spirit of "unity in diversity" and must convince the people that diversity among our society is not an obstacle to unity but is the greatest asset for our country to move forward together.

“We pursue power not for the sake of office or to enrich ourselves but political power is needed to implement what we have been fighting for all this time,” he added.

Loke also said DAP and PH leaders must be determined to join the national administration to contribute to institutional reforms to instil integrity in the government.

Among the institutional reforms, he said was to help provide an economic environment that generates job opportunities, to provide higher incomes for Malaysians, implement policies to combat the effects of climate change, improve the quality of the national education system to produce competitive young generations as well as improving the public transport system.

“We want to be a contributor to the nation building process. We want to be the “nation-builders", not "slogan cheerleaders",” he added.

He also assured that DAP members and supporters would never forget the the party’s principles which were based on democracy, justice, freedom, culture of integrity and good governance.

On Thursday, Sultan Nazrin said the practice of corruption in the country was at dangerous levels and that it was a disease within the society.

He said this during the launch of a book entitled “Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Muslim Politics - The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation” written by Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Mohd Kamal Hassan at the Karangkraf Media Group Headquarters, here.