KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — DAP leader Lim Kit Siang reached out to disaffected Umno leaders today, saying his party and the new federal opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan is willing to call a “new political realignment” to restore Malaysia’s internationally battered image for the country’s future.

He noted that 2015 had been a very bad year for Malaysians, and a gloomy outlook remains for this year, unless the people worked to overcome the “rampant corruption, widespread socio-economic injustices and nation-building failures” that had flung the country to the bottom pile of emerging economies.

“DAP and Pakatan Harapan are prepared to work and co-operate with disaffected Umno leaders, branches and members in a new political realignment to ‘Save Malaysia’ from rampant corruption, widespread socio-economic injustices and nation-building failures,” the Gelang Patah MP said in a statement.

He pointed to worsening racial and religious tensions, spiking living costs as a result of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced last April, the RM2.6 billion political donation controversy, the prolonged 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue and newly-passed legislation on the National Security Council (NSC) as the greatest “threats” to Malaysians.

Malaysia was ranked by US political magazine Foreign Policy as the third-most corrupt country in the world in its year-ender issue last month.

Lim said the greatest challenge for the year ahead will be on “how to save Malaysia from continuing with the policy disasters leading Malaysia to a failed and rogue state”.