Mixed thoughts prevail among Malays, non-Malays to PMX's unreadiness to step down
While the Malays tend to believe that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be shown the exit door soonest for having failed to live up with expectations, non-Malays feel that PMX should at least be allowed to complete his full term till Malaysians go to the national polls again come the 16th General Election (GE16).
The mixed reaction follows PMX's reiteration that he would not step down from his post despite calls for him to do so by the opposition.
' Insya Allah , I will not step down. If I steal the people's money, then they can call for me to step down. But I didn't do so,' he said in his speech at the ground-breaking ceremony of Kompleks Madani Teluk Kumbar in Penang yesterday (July 19). 'All government contracts go through an open tender process.'
Added PMX who is also the Finance Minister: 'If they (detractors) have enough numbers, they can bring a vote (of no confidence). That is the way.
'They can pull support from any MPt to support them. If I lose, I will step down nicely. That is the peaceful way.
'If not, they can wait until the next election. When that will be (the general election), I haven't announced yet.'
At a glance, it can be assumed that the Malays are more rebellious in their view of PMX as many belong to the opposition camp, hence are swayed by the opposition's propaganda amid the upcoming PAS-inspired 'Turun Anwar' on July 26 (Saturday).
This aside, many UMNO members at the grassroots level have also grown disgruntled with their party leadership which has comprised its 'No DAP, No Anwar' stance by having forged the much chastised 'UMDAP' alliance.
To make matters worse, the recent PKR central leadership polls have further split the key Pakatan Harapan (PH) party into two , namely the Damai faction of deputy president-elect Nurul Izzah Anwar and the Hiruk faction of incumbent deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli.
Against such backdrop, it is not surprising for detractors to offer feedback like 'People hate PMX more than they hated Rosmah (alluding to wife of incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak) or 'He should step down as he failed as PM and not able to demo good role model as a leader'.
On the other hand, non-Malays tend to opine that even if push comes to shove, PMX should at least be given an opportunity to helm Malaysia till GE16.
Their justification ranges from there are no successor in sight, that he remains the best man for the job or in short, they still have faith in his quest to combat corruption.
At the end of the day, what is sure is that PMX has 29 months on his side to initiate a turnaround that would restore the faith of Malaysians in him after a slew of miscalculations that have led to a build-up of trust deficit in him and his Madani administration .
The clock ticking. – July 20, 2025
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