Petition against Ismail Sabri to be elected as Prime Minister gains momentum on the Internet

As the rumours of Ismail Sabri Yaacob having at least 114 Members of Parliament (MP) backing him as the next Prime Minister, citizens nationwide started panicking and have since started a petition to voice their opinion against Ismail being elected as the next Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Previous, Ismail Sabri was the ex-deputy Prime Minister from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and he is definitely one of the ministers who should be responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic being out of control in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the petition calls upon a boycott against Ismail and the creator of the petition listed a number of his previous mistakes.

The description of the petition started with “He is mishandling the Covid-19 epidemic, and caused large-scale infections. Many inappropriate remarks prove that he is just a liar and a political joker.”

He then continue with his mistakes back in 2015, when Ismail Sabri sparked a firestorm of protest over his Facebook post urging Malay consumers to boycott the monopolising and profiteering Chinese businesses who discriminate non-Chinese entrepreneurs, arguing that it was necessary for Malays to exercise consumer power to prevent “profiteering” by Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese that control over 90% of Malaysian economies.

In addition, political analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan, head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs thinks that any right-minded Malaysians who believes in Malaysia unity, regardless of race, will think that his comments were disgusting.

Nonetheless, Ismail Sabri has deleted the Facebook post after the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that Ismail will be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 for his ill-intended remarks.

On the other hand, Ismail is also responsible for the failures of Low Yat 2, where the original concept of Low Yat 2 is for Malay traders, as he aims to replicate the success of Low Yat mall but just for the Malays.

His initiatives also earned him a ban from entering Sarawak by the state authorities, where SUPP Youth central publicity and information secretary Milton Foo said that “He is not fit to be a minister after making several racist remarks in nature. After his ‘boycott of Chinese merchants’ remark in February, now again he did it. Obviously, he is not repentful”.

Despite the ban, Ismail Sabri went on continuing with his concept and on 8 December 2015, Ismail Sabri officiates the opening of all-Malay MARA Digital Mall at Medan Mara, Kuala Lumpur. Although the traders are all Malay, Ismail calls on the minorities to support the mall.

Fast-forwarding to 2020, the Mara Digital Mall had not been doing well, with Mara Digital Mall Kuantan was closed in 2018 while Mara Digital Mall Johor ceased operations in 2019. Both these malls were closed down within a span of 3 months since launching.

Responding to the matter, the MARA Corp Chairman, Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi finally admitted that the creation of the digital mall was a politically motivated move and not a business-driven one.

Another problem pointed out by business owners is the single distributor, WGN Scan Sdn Bhd which reduces the profit margin because they can’t offer discounts, unlike retailers who have multiple suppliers and the freedom to do so.

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