Where will Dr M sit?

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad in Dewan Rakyat. - Filepic

There will be no debates or motions at next month’s Parliament meeting but there will be a numbers game which Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin intends to win.

DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been to the Prime Minister’s office many times in the last two years but his most recent visit was perhaps the most controversial.

Hours after the Opposition Leader emerged from his meeting with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the rumours and accusations started flying that Anwar was giving the new government too much face and even that he was cutting a deal with the Prime Minister.

His PKR comrades were upset that the visit would be construed as endorsing what the Pakatan Harapan Opposition has labelled as a backdoor government.

It was apparently none of the above and Anwar, said his long-time friend Prof Datuk Dr Redzuan Othman, had initially resisted the meeting because of the implications involved.

Anwar only went after being persuaded by several emissaries and he has since insisted that he met Muhyiddin in the context of the coronavirus crisis and in the national interest.

Whichever way one looks at it, the meeting sends a powerful message of some sort of detente between two adversaries, that you can be on opposite sides and still have discussions.

Kok Lanas assemblyman Datuk Alwi Che Ahmad said it was also about the Prime Minister showing respect for the new Opposition Leader because, as some have noted, it was the first time an Opposition Leader has been invited for a private meeting with a sitting Prime Minister.

It must also have been quite an awkward meeting because Muhyiddin is occupying the seat which Anwar thought would be his by now.

Muhyiddin wanted to personally update Anwar on the management of the crisis. He also wanted to explain why the Parliament sitting on May 18 could not be about business as usual and why stringent measures were needed.

There must have been a consensus because a few days later, the government announced a one-day Parliament sitting, no questions or motions would be accepted and only matters related to Covid-19 would be discussed.

What might have been a highly-political Parliament sitting is likely to be the least political sitting in a long while.

Actually, similar scenes have played out at state assemblies across the country.

“We had to reset everything. Our sitting in Kelantan adjourned after only 45 minutes, ” said Alwi.

He said the Sultan’s speech was read out by the Mentri Besar and two state enactments were passed without debate.

“We need to get our priorities right. This is not the time to play politics, ” said Alwi.

The Kedah assembly sitting earlier this month also ended after several hours and the Sultan’s speech was distributed to the assemblymen.

Politicians from both sides of the divide have generally refrained from harping on politics but it is no secret that the Opposition had been sharpening their knives for a showdown on May 18.

It is unclear whether the King will be present to deliver the royal address in Parliament but one side of the political divide secretly hopes he will be there because it will be a boost to the new administration.

Muhyiddin has averted the potential embarrassment that a stormy debate would have whipped up, especially given that the Opposition bench with at least 94 MPs, is at its biggest ever.

However, Muhyiddin needs to win the numbers game in a convincing fashion on May 18.

Everyone will be counting how many MPs are with Perikatan Nasional and more important, where Malaysia’s grand old man Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be seated.

The ice between the Bersatu chairman and his party president has yet to thaw and he has resisted attempts at a reconciliation.

But Muhyiddin’s administration is grateful that Dr Mahathir, through his social media statements, has shown support for the measures taken on the coronavirus issue and given professional suggestions on what needs to be done.

They see it as a stamp of approval for the government’s crisis management.

But a Bersatu insider said the Langkawi MP did not want to be seated on the government bench because “he does not want to sit with the kleptocrats”.

The insider said Dr Mahathir preferred to be seated on the Opposition bench rather than on the same side as his arch-nemesis Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Bersatu MPs who are likely to go along with Dr Mahathir are Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah.

But the thing is that many in Pakatan want to move on without Dr Mahathir.

“Those in PKR do not want to engage him anymore. They feel betrayed, they think it is time to move forward, ” said Dr Redzuan.

Dr Mahathir’s name sounds like “horse” in Chinese and during the general election campaign, DAP told the Chinese to ride on “lao mah” or old horse to get to power.

The horse did take Pakatan to Putrajaya but the horse has since thrown them off the saddle and Pakatan politicians do not want to get on the horse again.

In that sense, Dr Mahathir might be less than welcomed on the Opposition side.

But Muhyiddin would want him on the government bench. It will help to paper over the perception that the party is split.

“I am sure he will be given a respectful place on the government bench as a Bersatu leader and former PM, ” said PKR politician Lee Chin Cheh.

Despite the pandemic, many things have fallen into place for Muhyiddin since he took over Putrajaya but will his first Parliament sitting as Prime Minister go his way? - Star