DATUK Zuraida Kamaruddin, the outgoing plantation industries and commodities minister had on May 26 quit Bersatu, a member party of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
Her seat has yet to be replaced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Wonder what is stopping him from acting decisively as the nation’s leader against Zuraida’s transgression?
The latest acrobatic stunt by the trademark “party-hopping Zuraida” has got tongues wagging all over again.
What remains highly suspect and questionable is the fact that she first joined a political party that supports the incumbent ruling party of Ismail Sabri.
With her quitting the very party that gave her the ministerial appointment, will Ismail Sabri marshall his political will and have the gumption to remove Zuraida from the cabinet, given her betrayal to the party?
Or, as the grapevine speculates, will he retain her on the flimsy argument that PBM is a component party of the incumbent ruling government?
Zuraida’s case is bound to be the ultimate test of the prime minister’s leadership.
Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is reported to have suggested that a new ministry be established and Zuraida can be appointed as the minister of that newly established ministry.
His suggestion, short of naming the new ministry, sounds like a bakehouse experimenting with new moulds using the same ingredients.
Is Muhyiddin condoning party hopping and denying that her act was an act of transgression and a rude challenge towards the prime minister’s leadership?
Now, will Ismail Sabri take heed of Muhyiddin’s incredulous suggestion and show compassion towards Zuraida’s ill-intended action?
A commonly held opinion is that Ismail Sabri’s position as the vice-president of Umno is growing more precarious by the day.
Having defied the party’s president, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, by not heeding his call for an early 15th general election (GE15), can the prime minister survive the predictable onslaught?
Meanwhile, the sacking of Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (who is a loyal supporter of Ismail Sabri) from Umno’s Supreme Council is also an indication that all is not well within Umno too.
Zahid cannot accept an act of disobedience from any member of the party’s Supreme Council.
The sacking may have an impact on Ismail Sabri himself, who is an Umno vice-president, and is subservient to Zahid in the party’s leadership structure.
His current position as prime minister will no longer be tenable should he be sacked from the party.
Now, what option does Ismail Sabri have to remain in power should he be sacked from Umno?
The call for an early GE15 by Zahid is probably based on the confidence resulting from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) success in the state elections held recently in Johor, Melaka and Sabah.
There is also a widely held perception that should BN win GE15, Zahid would in all probability be appointed as the incoming prime minister by virtue of his position as the Umno president.
It is unprincipled of Zahid to continue to hold on as the party president knowing that he is facing serious criminal charges that could probably end his political career, should he be found guilty.
Public opinion as sieved from coffee shop talk and social media traction indicates that Zahid wants an early GE15 merely to escape being disqualified from contesting should he be found guilty of the charges levelled against him in the ongoing court trial.
Speculation in the social sphere is also rife that Zahid’s case will be dismissed by the court should BN return to form the majority government.
However, such perceptions, speculations and shop talk also seem to jive with the statements being dished out by those having a strong allegiance to and are hopeful of Zahid’s aspiration in becoming Ismail Sabri’s successor as prime minister.
Questions over Ismail Sabri’s fate in Umno
All these do not augur well in ensuring that the nation gets back on track for nation building and returning to its past glory.
Lest we forget, the fact remains that Umno’s reputation as a political party is mired in a web of excesses and corruption involving several of its leaders. It will take years for the party to shed its corrupt image.
The changeover to a clean party image must come from within the party itself where its members must demonstrate the courage to say, “no to corruption” and discard all its leaders that are corrupt or even alleged to be corrupt.
Unless and until this is done, Umno will forever remain as a party that is corrupt and a corruptor. And if the party does make a comeback to power with its baggage of corruption, the country will in all probability sink deeper into the cesspool of a failing state.
So what option does Ismail Sabri have if he wants to remain in power, and will he only call for the general election when his official term of office expires around the middle of 2023?
How will he overcome the threat of the Umno leadership towards him for his defiance to call for an early general election?
Will he be sacked as the Umno vice-president?
How will he act against Zuraida for her party-hopping betrayals, which is in the very first place a deliberate act of transgression against his leadership?
Will he heed Muhyiddin’s suggestion that a new ministry be created in order to accommodate Zuraida?
These are the greatest challenges confronting the prime minister in addition to rising inflation and global geopolitical and economic threats knocking harder day-by-day at his door.
Indeed, to state that our beloved nation and its people are facing unprecedented uncertainties is an understatement given the political undercurrents and intensifying chase for power. – The Vibes, June 26, 2022
Brig Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji is president of the National Patriot Association
