THE agreement between federal opposition Pakatan Harapan and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday on shared concerns for Malaysia has rightly been lauded by politicians from both sides of the divide.

By reason of the agreement, Ismail is our “man of the hour”.

Now, let’s pray that Ismail is also our “man of the year” – Malaysian of the Year 2021 – if not “man of the decade”.

Let’s recall briefly how Nelson Mandela was made “Man of the 20th century”. Affectionately known as the Father of South Africa and endearingly called by his clan name Madiba, millions will agree that the former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner deserved the accolade.

When he was released in February 1990 after 27 years in a prison cell – six of these years were in solitary confinement – he assumed the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) party and effectively dismantled the shackles of apartheid for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

A year later on his election as president – after a long struggle for democracy and arduous peace negotiations after his release from prison – Mandela’s ANC formed a power-sharing government with its rival: the National Party (NP) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

Called the Government of National Unity (GNU), it was vital towards overcoming “lingering distrust between the three groups, which had been locked in a violent conflict.” Mandela appointed political leaders named by their respective parties as deputy presidents and ministers. He appointed his political rival F. W. de Klerk, who was the NP leader and the country’s former president, as one of the deputy presidents.

GNU was described by analysts as “an eclectic, even explosive, mix of personalities, background and styles that will challenge Mandela’s promise to govern consensus”, but Mandela dared to declare it “the moment to bridge the chasms” that had divided the country.

Despite the NP’s withdrawal from the GNU slightly more than two years later, the GNU succeeded in overseeing the creation of a historic new constitution, restructuring the country’s legal system and public service, and implementing “a raft of social programmes aimed at undoing the injustices of apartheid.”

Many analysts have reflected on GNU’s success: Mandela’s light-handed leadership style apart from his forgiving and reconciliatory self; de Klerk’s dignity “in the attempt to make it all work and to ride what must have been, in some instances, a really difficult personal situation, being demoted and displaced by Mandela in the eyes of the public”; and IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s veering “away from (being) a militarily oppositional party and (instead) infected by the spirit of the ‘new South Africa’.”

Malaysia too can have all of the above in a unity government of its own: a big-hearted and reconciliatory prime minister and leader of the Dewan Rakyat, a dignified opposition leader who will make a unity government work and a non-confrontational opposition infected by a new political spirit for a better Malaysia.

Even though Ismail has said his administration will not be a unity government that includes opposition MPs, the people remain hopeful.

Let’s have a “new Malaysia”. The prime minister can be our person of the year – if not person of the decade. – August 26, 2021.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.