THE Association for Community and Dialogue (ACID) welcomes the statement by Umno youth, which called for a political ceasefire amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and for politicians to focus their efforts on national reconciliation instead.

Its chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the current Covid-19 situation is troubling as cases continue to increase while the economy is shrinking, which has directly affected the livelihood of the people.

It’s the right time for politicians, despite their political parties, to hold a political ceasefire in order to think of the best solutions for the welfare of the people.

This coincides to a certain extent to the recent statement by former human resources minister and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran, who said that the focus should be on reducing the people’s hardship due to job losses and reviving business instead of politicking.

It is vital for Malaysian political parties to come to their senses on its very existence, which is to serve the people and not to seize power at all cost. The blame game of who started it all should stop and they need to progressively move forward.

For national reconciliation to be sustainable in Malaysia’s context, there needs to be an understanding that politics only has meaning if there is a transcending value of breaking free of one’s restricted ethnic and religious ideology and building trust among communities through shared values and acknowledging common struggles.

Contestation on the national stage should be in the realm of ideas and vision and moulded along with moderation. This should be reflected in the statements given to the media. There should not be an ethno-centric agenda in a multi-ethnic and religious society. This requires a spiritual consciousness of wholeness of serving the rakyat rather than a narrow political agenda that strives on ethno-religious emotions.

Being an ethnic or religious champion is an easy way to gain support, but the nation as a whole will lose the capacity to harness its collective human, economic and social resources with creativity to withstand challenges from the current pandemic and economic depression.

Therefore, ACID would like to urge all political leaders of respective parties to initiate a national dialogue on how best they could help the nation in confronting the twin evils of Covid-19 and economic depression, with the spirit of serving the people instead of plotting and scheming for the downfall of a political opponent.

Political parties exist to serve the people and not itself. – October 21, 2020.

* Ronald Benjamin is ACID secretary.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.