Impasse between palace and PM intensifies

 

TAN Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made a special detour to Rusila when he was in Terengganu on Thursday.

He dropped in on Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who has been resting at home after spending more than a month in hospital.

The Prime Minister spent about an hour in Hadi’s kampung house which sits in the shadow of the Rusila mosque.

The PAS president has been a trusted and steadfast partner and it was probably the most relaxing one-hour that the Muhyiddin has had in days.

Muhyiddin has been under siege, his majority in Parliament is in question and his government is on shaky ground.

Earlier that day, the Prime Minister, who is also Gambir assemblyman, was at the Johor state assembly where the Sultan of Johor opened the session with a no-nonsense speech.

There had been rumblings that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia assemblymen wanted to retaliate against Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad for what Umno was doing to Muhyiddin in Putrajaya.

But the Sultan was having none of that. He warned members of the state assembly not to destabilise the state government or turn it into a “sangkar beruk” (monkey cage).

“I couldn’t believe Tuanku said ‘beruk’ until I saw the text of the speech,” said a Johor Baru journalist with a laugh.

The sovereign invited Muhyiddin over for lunch at the palace after that.

It is unclear what transpired between them but immediately after lunch, Muhyiddin summoned his Bersatu assemblymen for a quick briefing at Senai Airport before flying off to Terengganu.

Muhyiddin has resisted stepping down despite various accounts that he no longer commanded the majority in Parliament.

Bringing down a prime minister has been more difficult than his enemies had envisaged.

He has held on to his sense of humour though. When pressed by the media about the “5pm meeting” of Perikatan Nasional component party leaders in Putrajaya on Wednesday, he quipped: “I miss them. I haven’t seen them for some time.”

Trying to get information from those present at the meeting has been like trying to squeeze water from a rock.

But it is reliably learnt that Muhyiddin had asked those at the meeting if they were prepared for a general election.

He informed them of his intention to dissolve Parliament and to hold an election when the situation permits.

A general election is clearly the best way out of the political conundrum, to allow the people to decide who they want as the government.

But Muhyiddin is aware that his advice to the King on the dissolution holds water only if he has the majority in Parliament.

Lawyer Ivanpal S. Grewal said that under Article 40(2) of the Constitution, the King has “complete discretion” on only three matters - appointing the prime minister, dissolution of Parliament and convening a meeting of the Conference of Rulers.

In other words, the Prime Minister can advise the King to dissolve Parliament but His Majesty has the discretion to say yes or no.

Dissolution is rarely an issue when the term of Parliament is at an end but this is a midway point and there is a serious pandemic out there.

Moreover, the relationship between the palace and the Prime Minister is terribly strained.

Ivanpal said the Perak government crisis in 2009 had become an important legal precedent in political standoffs of this nature.

“The Ruler is likely to defer to the request if the leader still has the majority otherwise his legitimacy to call for election will be in question,” said Ivanpal.

Muhyiddin who currently has 100 MPs with him will need a dozen more MPs to give him the simple majority needed to broach the King on the dissolution.

It means that Muhyiddin may need to get some Pakatan Harapan MPs to come on board just to lend him that temporary legitimacy.

It is learnt that the “5pm meeting” did not rule out approaching Pakatan parties, including DAP.

And that may explain why the “5pm meeting” was so top secret and sensitive. DAP has a solid bloc of MPs but the party has become so toxic to the Malay base that Malay parties are wary of going near it.

If this courtship of numbers succeeds and Muhyiddin is able to convince the palace on the dissolution, he may not need to endure a confidence vote that he has little chance of winning.

His detractors are bound to accuse him of trying to find a less embarrassing exit plan although a general election was what many had agreed as the way out of the tunnel.

But that was before the pandemic came along. People are in no mood for polls right now.

“Anyone pushing for an election now may be punished,” said Ivanpal.

However, the election does not need to be called immediately.

The Prime Minister has a 60-days breathing space after the dissolution to decide on an election date.

And if the dissolution takes place a month from now, it means that the government will have at least three months to focus on the vaccination process and prepare SOPs for conducting an election in a pandemic.

Muhyiddin has turned out to be a tough nut to crack.

He is swimming against the tide but he still wields the immense powers of incumbency as Prime Minister.

He has also successfully split his enemy Umno.

He managed to get Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Senior Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn in his corner, pitching them against the main leadership of Umno.

The impasse between the Prime Minister and the palace has reached another level.

If the King does not agree to dissolving Parliament then Muhyiddin’s fate will lie in the hands of MPs.

Nothing like this has ever happened in the politics of the country and it is anyone’s guess what could happen next. - Star