PN’s days numbered, decide if you want to sink or swim, Umno veep tells BN allies

 

Khaled Nordin says BN component parties MCA and MIC were ‘wise enough to decide’ on their own. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia’s game of thrones moves into the final phase, an Umno vice-president has reminded party MPs and Barisan Nasional component parties to decide quickly if they still want to back Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Perikatan Nasional-led administration.

“Muhyiddin has no more majority. The PN government’s days are numbered. Where else do these MPs want to go?” Khaled Nordin asked.

The former Johor menteri besar said BN component parties MCA and MIC were “wise enough to decide” on their own. “It is up to them who they want to sink or swim with,” he said.

Attempts by FMT to reach MCA, MIC and PBRS leaders following Umno’s withdrawal of support for the PN government have been unsuccessful. MCA and MIC had in the past indicated firm support for the Muhyiddin administration.

Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid said Umno members who were still ministers or deputy ministers must choose to either follow the party line or defect to Bersatu.

Citing Bersatu’s weak influence among the Malay grassroots, he warned these Umno MPs that they risked having a stark political future by joining Muhyiddin’s party.

“In the short-term, they’ll hold on to their ministries and posts, but for how long can that last? Umno’s patronage machine runs deep in Malay society.

“Looking at things for the long-term, a better political future awaits them if they remain loyal to Umno. Without its grip on the levers of power, Bersatu might just sink into oblivion,” he told FMT.

But political scientist Wong Chin Huat said the fate of Umno MPs as well as BN allies would largely depend on whether a new government could be formed quickly, as well as its composition.

He said if the new administration was almost identical to PN at the top, pro-Muhyiddin BN MPs would “survive with little price to pay”, citing the change of the state government in Perak late last year.

“On the other extreme, if Muhyiddin resists and a new government is formed with Umno rebels and largely the opposition (and likely GPS), then Muhyiddin’s loyalists would be condemned to the political wilderness.” - FMT