FORMER Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan made an impassioned plea to PAS grassroots members urging them to remember their struggle for Malaysians.

She reminded PAS members that they once stood alongside electoral reform group Bersih to fight this (corrupt) government.

“I can only hope that members of PAS, not their leaders, remember the struggle of the people, because they stood with us in Bersih, shoulder to shoulder fighting this very government, this very system.

“I can only hope that people on the ground realise that enough is enough,” Ambiga said at a forum in Kuala Lumpur today entitled Post-1MDB and Malaysia: What Future Can We Have.

Her plea was targeted at the PAS grassroots cause the “leaders have made very clear where they are going”.

Ambiga said the current federal government was not going to change unless Malaysians voted them out in the next general election.

“A corrupt government is not going to change. It is simple logic and, of course, they will use every trick in the book; they will use race and they will use religion.

“Don’t underestimate their influence in the next general election. I only hope that PAS members – not their leaders, as they have made very clear where they are going – remember what they are fighting for,” she said.

Analysts had previously warned that a three-cornered fight would result in an advantage for Barisan Nasional as PAS would split the opposition vote.

Rumours had also surfaced that the PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had struck a deal with BN chairman and Prime Minister Najib Razak to work together to win in the coming polls.

However, Hadi today denied there was such a deal or secret alliance with Umno.

Ambiga said that if the opposition captured Putrajaya and did not do a good job, Malaysians could vote for change again in the next general election.

“The point is we must have a true democracy. The same party in power for more than 60 years is not a democracy; it is (a democracy) only (if) you can change parties.”

Ambiga said the best case would be for Malaysians to have clean and fair elections where “you can vote and go back home” and “watch the results on television”.

“Here, we have to go all out, guarding election boxes, looking and taking pictures, watching very carefully what this or that person is doing, and we have to do this again.”

She admitted that all these things tired her, too, and that she understood why Malaysians were politically fatigued. However, this time she said sitting back was not an option.

“While PAS have gone over to the other side, on this side, the 1MDB issue led to the creation of Bersatu and Warisan.

“So, these are the new pairs in the equation. I am optimistic that we can create a wave of change.

“The last time there was an 85% voter turnout, and the opposition won the popular vote, so maybe, we can push it beyond that this year and hope for the best,” she said.

Ambiga, along with University of Malaya law professor Dr Azmi Sharom and Penang Institute’s Dr Wong Chin Huat, had been invited to speak at a forum organised by Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) in Kuala Lumpur to speak on the future of the country.

They also raised about RM266,000 in a fundraiser for GBM programmes and operations for the next two years. – January 21, 2018.