Ismail Sabri’s botched show of majority support

 

Malaysians are facing their worst times both in terms of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic and a political system that has been impaired, not because the people made the wrong choice at the previous general election but by placing our trust in some wrong leaders.

One party lost a good number of MPs elected on its ticket and is crying “give back our seats”. The other party appears to be trying to poach more MPs with the sole intention of remaining in power.

MPs have been openly claiming they have been approached, but no one can say for sure whether the “offers” actually came from the poachers as claimed.

In an electoral system such as ours and based on how Malaysians vote, the choice of the people has always been about the party and never the individual. For an MP to hold on to the seat while joining another party or sitting as an independent is tantamount to an act of political fraud upon the voters.

The press conference by deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday, which appeared to be a hastily-called one held during official working hours for political reasons, has now turned out to produce more confusion as to who really holds the majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Holding a list in his hands, Ismail said 31 of the 42 Barisan Nasional MPs have thrown their support behind Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government. However, only 19 were present.

The others, according to him, could not make it but had pledged their support.

None of the remaining 11 Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs have made any statement about what Ismail has claimed. In contrast, three of the claimed 31 MPs said they had merely signed an attendance list and that their signature was not a show of support for Muhyiddin.

Two ministers resigned – something rare in Malaysian politics – citing their loyalty to Umno and abiding by the decision of the Supreme Council to withdraw its support for Muhyiddin and PN. And at least four Umno nominees have quit their posts in GLCs and public universities.

I believe there should be appreciation for the actions of these leaders. Most of the time, Malaysian politicians and leaders have stubbornly clung on to their positions because of the money and perks.

All this happened after Muhyiddin had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and told him that he commanded the majority and would prove it by having a confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat. Subsequently, he announced it will be done during the parliamentary sitting scheduled for September 6.

Most Malaysians and opposition political parties were naturally upset that they now have to wait more than four weeks before the vote when, as they rightly contended, the prime minister’s majority is already in doubt.

His maths just do not add up, and therefore, this needs an immediate vote as it is dangerous to have a leader at the helm who may not be the legitimate prime minister according to the Constitution. Just hold the vote and get it out of the way.

If that had happened and Muhyiddin had won the confidence vote, all Malaysians who believe in, and respect democracy, would have gladly accepted the decision and the nation would have moved on. But that is obviously not the case.

In hindsight, Ismail’s press conference, which was supposed to be an alternative platform to show Muhyiddin’s majority, bombed. The cracks are getting bigger as the days go by. More leaders are expected to quit from their government positions soon.

All the claims of certain leaders that they were doing this for the sake of the nation, race and religion and to allow PN to continue to lead the national fight against Covid-19 are mere hogwash. Their actions show a group that is completely power-hungry and desperately trying to cling on to power.

Malaysians want their elected representatives to exercise judgement on their behalf, but switching parties is not part of this ambit.

The question of seat ownership is important because party hopping can have significant consequences as we have witnessed, and can put the nation on a slide down a slippery slope towards lawlessness and poor governance.

Generally, parties and not individual politicians, should be the central organisational pillars of our democracy. Politics without established parties can descend into chaos.

We may be witnessing the start of that now, with renegade Umno leaders showing complete disregard for a collective decision.

In the meantime, I hope the cheating politicians spare Malaysians the agony of having to listen to hollow exhortations of saving the nation, race and religion. This mantra has become meaningless.

Just get your confidence vote done, and if you win, well and good. Otherwise, make way for a new leader. This is the least one can do for the country that we all profess to love. - FMT

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