The ‘Turun Anwar’ mass protest rally of 26 July 2025 offers opportunities and lessons for nationhood.
While the various political parties and enforcement vanguards may be busy arguing about the crowd numbers that gathered in the heart of the Federal capital, the lessons to be learnt are not in the numbers or whether people were paid to protest.
Foremost the leadership helming the government of the day needs to come to terms with the fact that there are issues and concerns that must be addressed and redressed convincingly.
Second, opponents to PMX must realise that the very people who gathered for the rally will also do likewise if they too fail in being a good check and balance opposition.
Third, we cannot take the peaceful nature of these protest rallies for granted. Malaysian citizens who have repeatedly demonstrated their spirit of unity and peace, respecting the parameters of peaceful assemblies, can suffer from a deep sense of betrayal if nothing good arises from these expressions of public frustrations and hopes.
Fourth, and most important, politicians need to shed their archaic mantras of past decades and realise that the world around them has changed.
The post ‘Turun Anwar’ rally therefore demands several crisis management determinants.
One, PMX must deliver on his GE15 promises with speed, knowing that time is hard pressed. Where he cannot fulfill, justifiably, he must come out into the open and communicate not only efficiently but also affectively. Oratorial skills alone cannot buy him the ticket into GE 16. Be transparent and accountable.
Meanwhile, opposition politicians need to know that they cannot keep riding on public sentiments. They should be told that when citizens gather to protest it is not to be translated as support for the politicians.
On the contrary it is the issues, concerns and hopes of the rakyat giving traction to these assemblies.
The way forward is a clean up within the hallways of government, its current bandwagon of politicians as well as a renewal or cleansing within the opposition ranks.
Truly, the country is in desperate need for a reset and renewal. It calls for sterling leadership.
Hopefully all our politicians will go into retreat to do some soul searching for the love of our beloved nation.
It is time to learn the precious lessons from the 26 July protest assembly. One should not be blinkered with the obsession of how many assembled. – July 27, 2025
J. D. Lovrenciear is a Scoop reader