By Emyr Malik
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — A group of disgruntled youths and students has launched a nationwide campaign to highlight the failures of the caretaker administration led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Dubbed the ‘Tolak Kerajaan Gagal’ movement, the group aims to bring focus to the inability of Ismail Sabri’s cabinet to address bread-and-butter issues such as housing, the rising cost of living, high unemployment, low wages and educational challenges, among other concerns.
Formed by various university student unions, political party youth wings, non-governmental organisations and disaffected Malaysians, the group has planned to hold talks and stage protests nationwide.
Speaking to Selangor Journal, the group’s secretariat spokesperson, Syahmi Shamsudin, said attention will be given to the many scandals linked to politicians from Barisan Nasional (BN).
They include the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project, the global 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, the controversy surrounding the role of Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) in the 5G network rollout and the numerous court cases that BN leaders such as Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi face.
Syahmi said although Ismail Sabri’s government faced many economic challenges due to Covid-19, it failed to address the hardships and needs of the people.
“Instead of discussing progressive policies or development plans to better the country, politics for politics’ sake has taken the front seat.
“We are aggressively campaigning to raise awareness among the people so that they would not vote for these sort of leaders again,’’ he said, stressing that Malaysians deserve better elected representatives.
With Parliament dissolved, Shahmi said they are now focusing on creating awareness among young Malaysians on the importance of their vote.
“We are going all out on social media asking young people to come out and vote. They must not miss this opportunity to be part of the electoral process,’’ he said.
Another representative of the group, Ooi Guo Shen, said they also intend to hold talks at local universities.
Ooi, who is the president of University Malaya’s student union, said the movement will not forget its roots, which are made up of current and former students who have struggled.
“Our foundation is formed by university students who faced housing issues and could not afford basic necessities.
“Many feel stressed that their basic welfare was not taken care of while pursuing their studies.
“The movement has gained traction as many ordinary Malaysians are in the same situation. So it is our duty to be vocal and hopefully be part of the solution for all these issues,’’ he said.
