Press Release
General Election Will Not Change Anything As Long As the System Does Not Change

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced that Parliament is dissolved today to give way for the 14^th General Election (GE) of the country. According to Article 55(4) of the Federal Constitution, the GE must be held within 60 days after the dissolution of Parliament. In every GE, people are indeed expecting change and in this GE, the wave of change is bigger than five years ago, especially when the desired change hoped by the people did not occur. People are now very keen to end the long wait and the suffering under the Barisan Nasional government. It is true that we do need change, unfortunately, many still do not realize that real change will not be achieved through the GE, since GE is not the path to it. Change will never take place as long as the current system is still in place and the GE model prepared by the British for Malaysia is definitely not the way to change the system. This is made clearer upon scrutiny of all the manifestos of the parties contesting in the coming GE where there is not a single undertaking to change the existing democratic system to the Islamic system.

With the dissolution of the Parliament today, Malaysia will witness the 14^th festival of democracy, in which the expenses, as announced by the Election Commission, is over RM400 million. This is not including the money that is spent by the contesting parties which will surely reach hundreds of millions of Ringgit as well. This is the reality of democracy; it is not only a Kufr system, but also extremely "expensive". It is undoubtedly depressing to witness all the lies, deception, defamation, blasphemy, disgrace, plot, hypocrisy, mass wastage, fights and other vices throughout this festival, just for the sake of seats. Worse, the seats are not utilized for implementing the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw), but to preserve the system and laws inherited from the Kuffar colonialist.

O Muslims! Take note that change will never take place via the path set by the colonialist for us. Change will only take place by following the path of revelation which is set by Allah (swt) for us, not the path set by Lord Reid. We have witnessed, for over 60 years since the “independence” of this country, how democracy has consistently been used by the government for its own sake and not for the sake of the people. This colonial-created system is not designed for the implementation of Islam, instead it is specifically designed and forced on the Muslim countries to prevent the implementation of Islam. In this system, the law of Allah (swt) can never be implemented unless it is approved by man. Democracy puts sovereignty in the hands of the people, not in the hands of Shara’ and it puts human intellect (aql), not the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw), as judgement in all matters.

As long as this system (democracy) is not changed, the coming 14^th GE will not change anything, no matter which party is going to win. Changes in the faces of rulers alone mean nothing when the system that regulates and shades our lives, is not changed. It is only by changing the system that the people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, shall be able to taste real change that is hoped for all this while. Thus, let us work for real change - come and join Hizb ut Tahrir so that we can work hand in hand to replace this Kufr democratic system inherited from the West, with the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) system, which is inherited from the Prophet (saw).

Abdul Hakim Othman
Spokesperson of Hizb ut Tahrir in Malaysia