Mr Nik Nazmi addressing the seminar participants (Source: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)
Mr Nik Nazmi observed that while there have been unexpected populist and sectarian developments in 2016 such as the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential elections and the Brexit referendum in the UK, he also pointed out the growing popularity of progressive politicians such as Bernie Sanders. The simultaneous emergence of both sectarian and progressive movements has a common source which is the widespread disappointment with the prevalent economic malaise.
Participants at the seminar (Source: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)
Similar trends can be observed in Malaysia where the UMNO-BN is manipulating racial and religious sentiments to arouse the Malays and Bumiputeras especially those who have been badly affected or left behind by UMNO-BN‘s ill-advised, self-serving economic policies. For Mr Nik Nazmi, the Opposition should offer the Malaysian public radical alternatives that would address their various concerns. He concluded that focusing on bread and butter issues might help the Opposition to win GE14.