LETTER | Patriot is disgusted with the antics of our politicians concerning the attempt to bring forth a confidence vote for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to complete a five-year term. This is irresponsible work of both opposition politicians who are too eager to form government through the back door and Pakatan Harapan politicians who are too occupied in survival politicking.

Politicians from both sides of the divide, once voted into office, must work hard for the common good and welfare of the people. They owe it to the people to work tirelessly to improve on the socio-economic progress of the country and not scheming for political survival, creating distrust, hatred and disunity among the people. 

Most politicians appear totally ignorant of the global economic downturn leading to a recession. Besides, they have low integrity, poor commitment and are bad leaders. They should not be in politics in the first place. With such poor attributes and if they are on their own in the private sector, they will also fail miserably.

Patriot had time and again appealed to our politicians to stop the politicking of premiership succession. Allow the Pakatan Harapan presidential council to decide on the matter. Cabinet members and those in the ruling coalition must work towards fulfilling the promises in the election manifesto.

Patriot views the rumoured issue of the secret formation of a "Pakatan Nasional" government as unthinkable. If it is true, then it is a betrayal of the rakyat’s aspirations. Proponents and supporters of such an unholy intent are no better than scoundrels and have integrity the level of the gutters. They care nothing about the worrying downtrend of our national economy.

Bank Negara has just reported that our economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 was 3.6 percent due to a number of factors like the lower price of crude oil and gas, declining palm oil exports and the effect of the US-China trade war. This resulted in the 2019 growth rate at 4.3 percent. 

Our national expenditure for 2020 had been budgeted to a forecasted 4.8 percent growth. The shortfall is sure to be painful, which blinkered politicians, shamefully do not seem to care. Furthermore, with the current global Covid-19 virus pandemic that is bound to sustain for a few more months, it is imminent that our Q1 2020 growth rate will decline further. The coronavirus pandemic may even trigger a global recession.

Umbrellas for the impending gloomy economic situation must be ready, starting yesteryear, not now. Patriot would like to see all our politicians get cracking and quit the disgusting politicking of scheming for premiership succession.

The writer is president, Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.