JOHOR BARU: Johor DAP is disappointed that Malaysia’s borders will not be reopened earlier as advocated by the National Recovery Council which had proposed a Jan 1 date and later advised for March 1.
Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong said a March 1 re-opening would allow tens of thousands of Malaysians to return home from Singapore to vote.
“I suspect the real reason of the delay in re-opening Malaysia’s borders is to prevent Malaysians working abroad, especially in Singapore, from returning home to vote,” he said at a press conference today.
Liew added the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that the borders would open on April 1 is to placate the voters as this is the main issue among Johoreans, especially in the southern constituencies.
“Knowing this, the government is still refusing to make it easier for those who work in Singapore to return to cast their votes,” he said.
Liew added the new Johor government must ensure when the Causeway re-opens, the busy border is not congested with human and vehicular traffic.
“DAP as the new Johor state government will do its upmost to generate decent-paying jobs through economic transformation that would attract investors – both domestic and foreign – that are committed to higher paying jobs,” he said.
Liew opined if that is not done, nothing much would change, even after two years of great suffering under the lockdown and closure of borders.
Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12 to decide the state government for the next five years.
While the opposition continues to blame Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) as those responsible for the “unnecessary” state election, many still believe the BN coalition still holds an advantage in the state.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Khalid Nordin said only with Umno as the dominant party will stability be restored in the state.
However, Liew stressed that in Johor, Umno has been the source of instability since 2018.
“It was Umno that caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government together with Bersatu and renegades from PKR. It was also Umno that caused the downfall of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government. It was Umno that caused Johor to go to the polls now,” he said.
Liew admits that although PH is not perfect, the coalition is the most sincere as far as reforms are concerned, and most ready to build a clean and dynamic Johor state government.
“Change and reforms can only happen if the old one-party hegemony Umno is defeated for a second time,” he said.
With only three days left before the big day, Liew said PH needs a massive peer-to-peer campaign and asked every Johorean to take part in this effort.