PAKATAN Harapan needs to seize control and not allow certain groups and politicians dictate the narrative with racial and religious rhetoric, said first-time MP Maria Chin Abdullah.

In an interview with The Malaysian Insight to mark her first year in office and the coalition’s, Maria said PH “hasn’t done too badly” but needed to do more to send a clear message on the direction it was taking the country to.

“The narrative on the ground is that this government is anti-Malay and anti-Islam. And these two narratives are good enough to convince some people that maybe they made a mistake voting in Pakatan,” she said.

She singled out its attempt to look into the economic welfare of the people and action to rescue agencies, such as Tabung Haji and Felda, from their financial woes.

However, Maria said the coalition continues to be in damage-control over the backtracking of several international treaties, such as the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (ICERD) and more recently, the Rome Statute.

“When we have to explain after we are criticised, we have more to do and then we get ourselves in a bind in the narrative. Who dominates the narrative? Definitely not Pakatan,” said the 62-year-old activist-turned-politician.

“We now have to unravel that conversation when we could have dominated the conversation.”

When PH took over the federal government, Malaysians enjoyed a greater level of freedom, but that also led to the inevitable criticism, she said.

“When Pakatan came in, the democratic space opened up. One of the consequences is that you get views that oppose you.

“The government has to counter this and the truth has to be set straight.”

Below are excerpts of Maria’s interview with The Malaysian Insight:

TMI: You were a career activist since 1985. How does that translate, now that you’re in government?

A: Being in government as a backbencher means I have to review the ministries’ policies. The difficult part is defending the policies when we have not met expectations.

Issues such as the Rome Statute and ICERD are difficult issues for me to explain the backtracking.

TMI: What do think of PH’s one year in government?

A: Despite all the criticism, they haven’t done too badly. The schemes that were rolled out in Budget 2019 were measured and help to some extent.

Do you feel the impact now? Not immediately because this needs time for the rollout to be felt. But there is an attempt to move towards a direction to help the B40 and the economy regenerate investment to build more jobs.

When the government wants to introduce new policies, there’s no preparation made to allow the backbenchers and general public understand why it is doing this.

The latest example is the Rome Statute. It was signed and presented to Parliament. Of course, we received a lot of criticism on that. A better way would have been to hold public discussions before it was signed.

Those kinds of issues have to be explained, particularly if it touches on the rights and privileges of the monarchy because these issues are sensitive.

When we explain after we are criticised, we have more to do and then we get ourselves in a bind in the narrative. Who dominates the narrative? Definitely not Pakatan. We have to now unravel that conversation when we could have dominated the conversation.

TMI: Why is PH unpopular now?

A: There’s the expectation that prices of goods must go down immediately. This doesn’t happen overnight.

The other thing is the backtracking and that has been captured very well by the opposition. The opposition has also gone back to race and religious politics which still work. And we have not been able to counter that effectively.

The narrative on the ground is that this government is anti-Malay and anti-Islam. And these two narratives are good enough to convince some people that they may have made a mistake voting in Pakatan.

When Pakatan came in, it opened up the democratic space where people can have differing views. One of the consequences is that you get views that oppose you.

The government has to counter this and the truth has to be set straight. Take the Tabung Haji issue, for instance. Personally, I feel that it was a good move as it saves an institution that means a lot.

It’s not just an investment arm but an institution where people put money into with the hope that they can fulfil a sacred religious obligation, by going for haj.

From next year onwards, the government has to pay RM1.73 billion to help TH recover. That is something that is not known to many.

It is done to allow people to go for haj and save an institution that has protected the interests of Muslims. That narrative is not very well known. But the anti-Islam rhetoric is so big that people tend to believe it.

TMI: Are you still hopeful of a New Malaysia as people are making fun of this tag line?

A: I’m still hopeful because I feel that the cabinet we have is trying its very best. And I certainly do not want what we experienced previously where we have to fight against corruption, abuse of power and activists get jailed etc.

For Pakatan, they are committed enough and this is our one-time chance. If we don’t take this chance to build a much better Malaysia then we will not have a chance again.

Once the opposition comes back, they will go back to their old ways. Particularly, when the civil service and the opposition believe that they can go back to their old ways and Pakatan is only good for one term. So, the people and the cabinet have to work together to show them that we are not going back to the old ways.

We are not going to have people buying pink diamonds with our money. It is not just the cabinet but civil society and the public will have to come forward and work with the government with the same enthusiasm it had to remove the previous government.

This is a trying time that we have to be together and see if we can build something in the five years. If Pakatan really fails, vote it out. But during this time, we all have to work together to ensure what we wanted (as encapsulated in the last elections) is realised.

TMI: What do you think of the cabinet’s performance?

A: It reflects that the ministers are not coordinated in many ways. And it’s frustrating. Like the Lynas issue, for instance. One said yes, while another said no.

When we fought against Lynas, the position was clear that we will not let them dump the deposits here. The ministers have to learn to talk to each other and look at their policies.

Overall, it’s not bad although there’s a lot frustration when they contradict one another.

The bigger problem for me is when they are unclear about our human rights position as we have been fighting against repressive laws, migrant issues for many years and we still haven’t sorted out our policy direction on these issues.

That for me, is problematic. – May 4, 2019.