Govt to face pressure if it fails to cooperate with opposition

SHAH ALAM - The government is expected to receive a greater pressure from the opposition throughout its administration if there is no further open cooperation between the two blocs towards a better national change for the sake of harmony of the people in the country.

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Media and Information Warfare Studies' security and political analyst Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said any form of agreement was unnecessary.

Instead, the determination and willingness of both the government and opposition to stop the political dispute was far more important in order to stabilise any potential pressure in the future.

He said the opposition at the same time should also be more open to political diplomacy through state leadership figures who focused on elements of statehood and togetherness.

"In my opinion, the government does not need an element of agreement from the opposition because for me, it should be open, in fact, the opposition state governments should also be prepared to cooperate with the government and forget the ongoing political disputes.

"The public is tired and fed up with political disputes and wants reforms in terms of the economic implementation of a country rather than a state... so this state sentiment needs to be reduced and stopped for the sake of coming together as an independent country in the month of independence.

"Among the things that need to be done is to ensure that state leaders and the federal government cooperate well." he said.

State leaders continued to be given a form of cooperation or an opportunity for cooperation by bringing about good changes," he told Sinar Harian.

He made the remark while commenting on the appropriate approach to be implemented by the government following Perikatan Nasional (PN) now being considered a strong opposition.

Commenting further, Nirwandy said that it was important for the people to understand the government's policies on a further micro level especially in relation to socioeconomic interests to not be caught up in the perception game by the opposition.

He said that the government needed to ensure that psychological warfare elements and socioeconomic plans for the people were implemented smoothly and understood.

"What we don't want to create is a game of perception that can harm the country as a whole because when the government is caught up in the game of perception and propagandas that have political interests, it will not help to provide a good impact on the solutions to issues that the people want to understand.

"The public also needs to be brought closer to the spirit of patriotism which is to cultivate a strong spirit of nationalism to unite the diversity of races because the sentiment of nationalism as well as a few political elements that are quite harsh and extreme can create income differences and bad sentiments of nationalism in the context of a harmonious society," he said.