Many were left in the dark over Pakatan Harapan Perak’s fate after assisting UMNO Perak to oust Ahmad Faizal Azumu from the post of Menteri Besar with the replacement coming from UMNO.

There are also those who have expressed their anger and disappointment towards Pakatan Harapan Perak, thinking that we have been duped by UMNO to achieve their goal of wrestling the Perak Menteri Besar seat from Bersatu.

Maybe because many didn’t notice the dilapidation and greed of Ahmad Faizal Azumu’s administration under the Bersatu government (because during the Pakatan Harapan era, he was tightly guarded against abuse of power).

Admittedly, from the outside, Pakatan Harapan seemed to have been defeated and suffered losses. However, we are contented because the rakyat is the real winner, especially constituents of opposition State Legislative Assembly Members (DUNs).

The real victory of Pakatan Harapan for the rakyat of Perak are as per below:

1. For the first time in the history of Perak, all constituencies will be getting the same allocation regardless of whether they are from the government or opposition. These allocations can only be utilised for programmes that benefit the rakyat and not for the pockets of ADUNs.

2. All 59 Perak ADUNs from all parties will be part of the District Action Executive Committee which is the most high impact Executive Committee in terms of solving local issues. This is also the case for the Executive Committee of District Poverty Eradication ‘Focus Group’ and District Natural Disaster Management.

3. The Perak State Government has also agreed to amend the Standing Orders of the Perak DUN to allow the Chairman of the State Public Account Committee (PAC) to be from the opposition. As such is an important step in terms of institutional reform that will usher the state of Perak towards a world-class democracy. The position of Opposition Leader in the Perak DUN was also officially recognised with the implication that the office of the opposition leader will have allocations within the state’s Budget 2021 and gazetted in the DUN Standing Orders.

There are a few other agreed mutual policies and allocations between the government and opposition. The most significant of which is the institutional reform in the form of the 3 matters above.

The rakyat of Perak will bear witness to their ADUNs serving in a more efficient manner in facing and solving issues faced by the people.

Furthermore, it will also open up avenues for change and evolution for political bodies within the state in general. With the full force and involvement of all ADUNs, the higher the probability would be for the enactment of policies that are more progressive and beneficial for the Perak rakyat.

To all Pakatan Harapan supporters, do not worry for all of this was exerted with principles, honesty and good will. We always hear and understand your concerns.

In the current climate of political and economic uncertainties, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, the rakyat have become disillusioned with the antics of the Perikatan Nasional leadership and burdened with sufferings, we are willing to ‘lose’ for the time being in order for the rakyat to win. We are contented, for this is our responsibility in serving the rakyat.

Howard Lee Chuan How
ADUN for Pasir Pinji
DAPSY National Chief