A PLEA, a bribe, and a show of defiance.
This sums up Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s grovelling address to a nation reeling from a pandemic that has taken far too many lives, managed by a prime minister who seems to be out of ideas.
A graceful exit was too much to ask for. Muhyiddin had displayed his desperation in his bid to cling on to power no matter what.
Pleading for bipartisan support to fight the pandemic and put the economy back on track, he offered a sweetener – all MPs to be given equal allocation to assist their constituents, as well as equal representation in parliamentary select committees and the various other committees to battle the pandemic and heal the economy.
He even promised reforms that were part of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto as well as the National Anti-Corruption Plan mooted by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – implement an anti-hopping law and limit the term of prime minister to two terms.
He even pledged that the opposition leader will be given the same resources and facilities as that of a senior government minister.
Obviously targeting young voters, who are perhaps among the most affected by the pandemic and the numerous movement control orders, he said the Undi18 initiative will be implemented without the need for automatic voter registration.
All of the above however, as mouth-watering prospects as they are, come with a caveat – that he survives a vote of confidence in Parliament on September 7. For most of the promises such as the anti-hopping law and two-year cap on the premiership, it also depends on his government getting a two-thirds majority.
With elections pushed to July 2022, Muhyiddin is bent on staying put – even challenging the other MPs to present a candidate who has majority support.
“Even if I step down, there is not one member of the House who can show he has a majority,” Muhyiddin reasoned.
“If I resign, my whole government resigns,” he said, warning that if a new government is not formed in a short span of time, the management of the pandemic will be disastrous.
With 11, 968 deaths so far – 277 from today alone, one wonders what Muhyiddin’s definition of a failed pandemic response plan is.
At over 1.34 million cases, Malaysia is among the worst countries in terms of dealing with the crisis, despite a vaccination rate that has reached 30% of the population.
But here is where Muhyiddin’s argument, that his government goes if he goes, is wrong. Just like his predecessors, Muhyiddin can easily hand over his position to his deputy Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Just like when Dr Mahathir handed over the premiership to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and then Abdullah to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, there is precedent that the 74-year-old Pagoh MP can follow.
There will not be a collapse in government. In fact, the political impasse within Umno may end as the party regains the top spot in the administration.
In any case, whether others have the majority or not, what is certain is that Muhyiddin himself does not – something that he had unwittingly admitted in his hour-long address.
With only 100 MPs out of 220 living ones in support of him, the math speaks for itself.
And it is not his place to determine who has the majority. It is for the king and it is for a parliamentary process.
Granted, political instability is not what we need in the middle of the biggest crisis to hit the nation since independence. Muhyiddin, however, is not the man to get us out of it. It was his involvement in stealing the people’s mandate through the Sheraton Move that triggered political instability in the first place.
The writing is not only on the wall. It is on every forehead. Step down now. The prime minister can be anyone. Anyone but you. – The Vibes, August, 13, 2021
Terence is editor-in-chief of PETRA News and managing editor at The Vibes
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