PH-govt pact marks end of opposition, says analyst

 

Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government and the opposition, led by Anwar Ibrahim, are to sign an agreement on political cooperation.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is about to see the demise of the opposition, as Pakatan Harapan (PH) prepares to sign an agreement on political cooperation with Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government, according to a political analyst.

Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs criticised the PH reform pact with the government as being a detrimental and harmful brand of Malaysian politics, saying the opposition had effectively “emasculated” themselves.

“So now, we don’t actually have an effective opposition any more. It will be the whole country uniting around this government; the opposition will have to swim or sink with this government,” he told FMT.

“If this government fails in its efforts to fight the pandemic and revive the economy, the opposition will have to similarly shoulder the blame with the government,” Oh said.

“We’re seeing the demise of the opposition in Malaysia. It’s extremely harmful to the development of parliamentary democracy not only in Malaysia but in all other Westminster systems. We are setting a very bad example for the rest.”

Oh and former academic Azmi Hassan predicted that the immediate outcome of the deal would be that the opposition would no longer call for the prime minister to test his parliamentary support through a confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat.

Azmi also said Ismail will have to follow through with the reform proposals he had offered the opposition.

However, he welcomed the political accommodation between the two blocs as it would give the government and opposition MPs the space to focus discussions on issues that really mattered to the people.

“No more issues with whether or not the prime minister has the majority. They can put it behind them with this confidence and supply agreement.

“At this juncture, we need both the government and opposition working together.

“But this doesn’t mean the opposition is supporting the government. They’re just providing support for crucial bills such as the budget,” he told FMT.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the agreement would allow a focus on fighting Covid-19 without the disruption of political instability. He said Pakatan Harapan members could still speak out, by providing constructive criticism to ensure better governance in the country.

“This does not only benefit Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government in terms of political stability but also for PH who will get justice in terms of fund allocations which have long been ignored by the previous government,” he said adding that this would only benefit the people.

He said this agreement has brought a new political landscape for the country after more than 60 years adding that reforms could finally happen at the institutional and parliamentary levels with transparency and openness.

Political leaders of Ismail’s government and representatives of PH reached an agreement this evening on political cooperation between the two blocs. A memorandum of understanding will be signed at Parliament House tomorrow.

Details of their agreement are to be revealed after the signing. - FMT