A temporary political ray of hope?

 

From Abdul Hamid Abdul Kadir

The ultimate, proper and long-awaited decision to resign as prime minister by Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday has given the rakyat a ray of hope in these troubled times. The automatic resignation of the bloated cabinet is another welcome news.

The appointment of Muhyiddin as caretaker prime minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a just and fair decision, until the King appoints a new prime minister and cabinet and the Parliament is reconvened.

The caretaker provisions are well defined and recognised, and a caretaker cabinet is expected to have about 10 ministers responsible for essential running of the country. In the present situation with a raging pandemic, these functions would primarily concern controlling the disease, vaccination to achieve herd immunity, protection of the rakyat, and economic revival as far as possible under the circumstances.

The component parties of the Pakatan Harapan government, after being mandated by a fair and free GE14 on May 9, 2018, had collapsed abruptly on Feb 24, 2020, due to some members of the component parties resigning and party-hopping and the government of the day losing its parliamentary majority.

During the 21 months that the PH government was in office, it had initiated commendable steps to restore the rule of law in the country. As to be expected, the major critics of the government were the parties that had been voted out by the rakyat.

PH was also found floundering in its election manifesto and promises, resulting in the civil service and the rakyat becoming unsettled in its hold on power. At that point in time, PH’s future was turning bleak.

What could be done next?

In considering a new prime minister and cabinet to take charge in the interim and until the next general election to be held at a suitable and safe time in future, the dilemma is more apparent than real.

All said and done, it would only be fair, logical and purpose-driven to reinstate the PH
component parties in government after the period of “caretaking” by the current caretaker prime minister and his caretaker cabinet. Undeniably, the legislators of PH component parties had been democratically elected.

It is a well-established fact that some of the leaders in PH component parties had their personal political ambitions, more than national and egalitarian interests, and had resorted to various unsavoury measures to destabilise the government.

It is therefore imperative and vitally life-saving for the PH coalition to critically and dispassionately review the actions of these leaders and select a competent new prime minister and cabinet which will restart various institutional reforms and restore stability and peace to the country, with the consent of the King and the blessings of the Almighty. - FMT

Abdul Hamid Abdul Kadir is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.