Former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali feels that history is not going to judge the recently concluded prime ministerial stint of Muhyiddin Yassin very kindly.
“If asked to rate him as a prime minister, I think you certainly can’t say he is one of the best we have had. Honestly, he is just about the worst - but there are reasons for this.
“He didn’t have enough of a majority, so he was busy securing the support of MPs in whatever way he could.
“His administration was also burdening the country with huge debts and, at the same time, allocating themselves public funds with not enough transparency to show how the money was spent,” Syed Husin told Malaysiakini in a phone interview.
“And of course, under Muhyiddin, Covid-19 went from bad to worse, to the point that we now have 14,553 deaths and a healthcare system that is overstretched.
“Economic conditions are getting disastrous with people losing jobs, companies closing down and prices going up.
“Everywhere you look, things are going from bad to worse. That is Muhyiddin’s legacy,” Syed Husin added.
A former academician at the Universiti Malaya, Syed Husin (above) was a political prisoner when he was detained without trial for six years, from 1974 to 1980.
He served as president of the left-wing Parti Rakyat Malaysia for more than a decade before leading it into a merger with PKR, in which he was the deputy president. He also served two terms in the Dewan Negara, from 2009 to 2015.
Syed Husin remarked on the fact that after many years of seeing entrenched political rulers, Malaysia is now under its fourth prime minister in less than four years when the rule of Najib Abdul Razak was followed by short terms of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin before Umno’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob took over this week.
“I don’t think it’s a good sign that we are having these short-term governments. It’s a sign of weakness in leadership and instability in the system. I would think that a good leader should have one or two five-year terms to carry out his policies and plans,” he added.
Ironically, he said that most of the institutional problems that the country is now facing are due to the sudden resignation of Mahathir instead of honouring his handover promise to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
“Not that Mahathir was honouring the election promises of Pakatan Harapan anyway,” he added, ironically.
Syed Husin recalled that in the final weeks of Muhyiddin’s rule, Malaysians saw their MPs locked out of Parliament, contract doctors on strike, a hunger strike and a new movement of protesters called #Lawan, as well as the emergence of the White Flag and Black Flag movements.
Muhyiddin was also criticised for never proving his Parliamentary majority in a vote in the Dewan Rakyat and for declaring a State of Emergency that gave his government sweeping powers while failing to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ultimately, due to the manner in which it took power and its various failings, the Muhyiddin regime, which at 17 months is the shortest-serving administration in Malaysia's history, may be destined to be known as uncomplimentary, through terms thrown at it such as the 'backdoor gomen' and #kerajaangagal.
“All this shows that the political and economic situation was getting worse and worse under Muhyiddin and it is still precarious now.
“There is a 14th-century thinker called Ibn Khaldun, who was a philosopher, writer and administrator. He wrote a very famous book called Muqaddimah (introduction) and he was the father of modern sociology.
“He wrote about how empires go up and down in a cyclical manner and may be slipping towards destruction, and you can see a lot of the hallmarks under Muhyiddin. There are reasons for these things to happen.
"For example, the contract doctors were mistreated, despite making so many sacrifices but yet not given full tenure.”
Asked if he had any advice for the newly sworn-in Ismail, Syed Husin laughed.
“I am sure he doesn't want advice from me. But if he was listening, I would tell him that he should not follow the same path of Najib and Muhyiddin,” he said.
Changes needed for the future
Now approaching his 85th birthday, Syed Husin was 21 in 1957 when Malaysia attained its independence and he has witnessed many of the same political leaders hog the limelight for decades.
Indeed, Mahathir, Anwar, Najib, Muhyiddin and other figures such as DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and former ministers Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Rais Yatim have all been public figures for 40 to 50 years.
“One thing is that almost all of these leaders were democratically elected by voters, so they must be capable at some level. Despite their age, they are all very active.
“At the same time, these older leaders must be open. There is a necessity to groom the younger leaders, give them responsibility and listen to fresh ideas.
"Now, this government is acting like it’s afraid of younger voters by stalling the implementation of Undi18 and standing in the way of registering Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s party (the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, Muda).”
One of the reasons for the fall of the Harapan government was an internal split within PKR, with Syed Husin’s successor as deputy president, Azmin Ali, leading defectors to cross the parliamentary floor and collapse the ruling alliance.
Syed Husin recognised that his party has its own challenges if it is to present itself as a credible force to voters again.
“Keadilan (PKR) itself should show stronger leadership. It should cease to be perceived to be about just one man after all these years. The other MPs must stand up and be counted.
The party members must all be more disciplined and committed, particularly during the party elections.
“I would also like to see the coalition with DAP and Amanah be maintained and possibly expanded with new entries, so that we have a bigger one ahead of the next general election,” Syed Husin added. - Mkini
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