The Pakatan Harapan federal and state governments will have to ensure it does a better job at upholding the constitution and taking care of the rakyat than the previous BN government, said Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

“The Harapan federal and state governments will compete with Umno to have a better record in upholding the fundamental features of the constitution and look after the rights and interests of all Malaysians,” the veteran DAP leader said in a statement today.

This is because, he said, Harapan does not want to be a one-term government but one that is able to continue to get the mandate of the people in subsequent elections.

“This means that a Harapan government will have to prove to be a better government than Umno/BN in looking after the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region,” he said.

Lim also clarified that his remark yesterday about whether any Umno leader will expel former premier Najib Abdul Razak from the party over his alleged involvement in the 1MDB scandal and the propagation of “toxic” politics was not targeted at Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Tengku Razaleigh, he said, had only announced his bid for the presidency for the party elections on June 30 after Lim issued the statement.

However, Lim reiterated his call for any Umno leader to take Najib to task over his two “legacies”.

“The silence from the 54 Umno MPs and the 3.6 million Umno members on the 1MDB scandal is most deafening worldwide, and Umno’s ability to exorcise itself of the 1MDB scandal and its toxic and anti-national politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies will decide whether Umno can ever regain public trust and credibility,” he added.