Ismail Sabri's motorcade to flood-hit Kedah

 

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's trip to flood-stricken Yan, accompanied by a retinue of Umno-Baru politicians shows that he aims to continue as he started.

He could have told the MPs not to come with him. The money spent accommodating these Putrajaya hangers-on was a waste of resources and manpower, but he failed to refuse them.

More importantly, Ismail needs to focus and engage with the victims of the floods, and not be distracted and waste time with his mandarins.

First things first. If the man who imposed the strict lockdown rules cannot be bothered to follow them, why should you or I?

As the former Senior Minister of the National Security Council (NSC), he dictated the rules. Soon after, he was elevated to the post of prime minister (PM), by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Aug 20. He then flew to Kedah, a few days after his inauguration, to inspect the damage in the floods affected areas of Yan and Merbok.

Looking at the photos from government news media, one is left wondering. "How many Umno-Baru MPs does it need to change a light bulb? One to hold the bulb, and 40 others to issue instructions or take turns holding the ladder?"

After his maiden speech as PM, in which he wanted all Malaysians to think of themselves as one big happy family, "Keluarga Malaysia", many questions spring to mind about his trip to Yan.

Ismail is the PM. Everyone takes orders from him. What he says, goes. So, if several MPs express a wish to travel north with him on the prime ministerial jet, can't he just exercise his authority and forcefully say "No!" Bigger is not better.

One can understand Ismail's position if a particular MP has an exceptional skill, like disaster and crisis management; but looking at the photos that have emerged, showing the Pasir Salak MP, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, begs the question, "Why was Tajuddin allowed in the entourage?"

Tajuddin's cringe-worthy handling of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) accident last May made him a laughing stock, so the finance minister swiftly sacked him before he made matters worse.

Tajuddin does not have disaster management expertise. He is the personification of a disaster.

Some of the MPs who travelled with Ismail were not from the local constituencies affected by the floods, so why did he allow this?

Worse was to follow. There are videos on social media of Ismail's alleged fleet of vehicles whizzing along kampung roads. I counted around 47 cars and SUVs in this convoy, not including the ambulance, the five police cars and more police outriders. Was this necessary?

What was Ismail's host, the Kedah MB Muhammad Sanusi Mohd Nor, trying to prove? Was he showing off?

Or was he expressing his loyalty?

So, in the end, whose ego is greater? Sanusi's or Ismail's?

The president of the United States (Potus), has around 20 or 30 vehicles in his official motorcade. Each vehicle has a specific role to play.

One vehicle has sophisticated jamming equipment and is called the "watchtower", an élite secret service team are in another vehicle, in case of an attack.

There is no doubt that those in all of the cars in Ismail's convoy were Umno-Baru politicians and sycophants, who are sucking up to him, to show their loyalty, all trying to elbow one another out of the way and hoping that he will include them in his cabinet line-up.

So, who needs whom most? Does Ismail need the support of Umno-Baru MPs more than they need him?

He knows there are potential backstabbers in his cabinet, and if things do not go his way, a vote of no confidence may be on the cards.

Ismail realises that he needs to keep his Umno-Baru politicians sweet, and this may be why he allowed the toadies to accompany him on this visit. He may wish to pander to the MPs, but the rakyat have failed to detect real leadership.

Potus is the president of the First World, and the US government has enormous reserves to pay for expensive security measures and huge motorcades. What is Ismail? He is just the non-elected leader of Asia's latest banana republic, which is probably close to bankruptcy.

He was nominated by one man and it makes one wonder why we bother to queue under the hot sun or driving rain to vote, only for the decision to be taken away from us.

As PM, Ismail should have thought of the image he is projecting. The wanton waste of resources, the manpower involved to manage his large entourage, many of whom did not observe social distancing.

A true leader would have trimmed down the leeches accompanying him. What contribution would they have made for the people of Yan?

Or were they with Ismail, so that come GE15, the photos of them mingling with the victims would make good publicity as they "helped" those affected by the floods.

The presence of a large billboard welcoming Ismail to Kedah was also distasteful. The gleaming and newly erected advertising billboard with Ismail's face on it, standing tall in the disaster area, was not just an eyesore, it showed the contempt of those in authority, for the people.

The question on most people's lips is this, "How did the flood victims benefit from the presence of this large group of busybodies from Putrajaya?"

The MPs were trying to benefit from the misfortunes of other people.

Ismail has failed to show leadership, even before he settles into his role as PM. - Mkini

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.