No eternal enemies in politics, only interests - Prof Zaini Othman

KUALA LUMPUR - There are no eternal friends or enemies in politics, only the interests of the people need to be maintained.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies (Kita) senior research fellow Associate Professor Zaini Othman said this when contacted by Astro Awani on the current political cooperation narrative.

"Everything must go back to the interests of the people.

"All issues or matters to be debated must be matters related to the interests of the people in their (MPs) respective areas. This context has to be understood at the MP level and the people," he said on Monday.

He also described the unification in the new government as symbolic in putting aside each other's past history.

Zaini also emphasised that governance which was often mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will determine the country's direction for the next five years.

"The umbrella concept of good governance includes the context of discussion, debate and enlightenment of issues related to the well-being of the people.

"In fact, whatever issues discussed must be related to the philosophy of democracy.

"Fundamentally, as MPs, they must understand what the Parliament is for, a place to talk about matters related to the well-being of the people. This will be the point of departure for the process of moving on," he said.

The first parliamentary meeting of the unity government led by Anwar marked another historical moment as former enemies Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) were now sitting side-by-side.

Despite prominently known as the cats and dogs in politics, Umno and DAP were now sitting on the same bloc despite the fiery chant of 'No Anwar, No DAP' in the 15th General Election (GE15).

In a Facebook post, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (PH-Muar) shared a photo of himself sitting next to former defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (BN-Sembrong).

Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) also posted a photo on his Facebook from the first day of the Parliament sitting in which he was seated next to former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri (BN-Bera) who was on the other hand sitting next to Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PH-Bandar Tun Razak).

Another post showed him smiling cheerfully with Syed Saddiq, Hishammuddin and Theresa Kok (PH-Seputeh) in the background. - AWANI