MoU: a memorandum of underhandedness

 

In the MoU signed between the government and opposition last September, the ruling bloc agreed to not propose the dissolution of Parliament before July 31. Nowhere in the agreement does anything resembling the word “deadline” appear.

Why then, have so many in Umno piped up to say the MoU has expired?

The lack of reading comprehension is one possible answer, but that assumes that those who claim the agreement has lapsed had actually read the thing. Ignorance is another possibility, of course. Perhaps like students who haven’t done their homework, they are just nodding along to an answer they think sounds clever.

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The most likely answer however is political expediency. Make no mistake, those pointing out that the MoU has no end date are correct, and to suggest otherwise is dishonest.

It’s actually a classic political move that’s been used to great success in modern times by the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump (although not the most illustrious company). Their tactic is to repeat something untrue loudly and often and hope that eventually people stop questioning it.

Look at the promises laid out in the MoU. If Umno had any intention of honouring it in full, its leaders wouldn’t be talking about an election with promises still remaining unfulfilled. While the party managed to pass an anti-hopping bill at the eleventh hour, key reforms are still outstanding. Term limits for prime ministers have yet to be passed, and we are yet to see any movement on a Parliamentary Services Act.

Umno wants an election because they think they will win big, just as they have in recent state elections, but don’t want to come off as the bad guys (again). Not after all the chest thumping the party’s done about being inclusive and reformed.

The MoU was never a binding document; if Umno wanted polls in April after the big win in Johor, they could’ve recommended dissolution of Parliament, but the party knew that optically it would have been a disaster, one that would have undone much of the work it had put into painting itself as a different party than the one people rejected in 2018.

Perhaps the fact the MoU wasn’t binding was intentional, a way to ensure Umno held all the cards while throwing a bone to the opposition.

What happens now? Does the government remove its mask to reveal that all its promises were superficial? Proposing that parliament be dissolved in August would certainly suggest as much, raising questions about whether the government ever had sincere intentions to enact meaningful change, or if the MoU was just a facade to trick the opposition into playing ball, buying Barisan Nasional time to consolidate power.

If that’s the case, it worked. Barisan Nasional is at its strongest since its shock GE14 loss, while the opposition is looking increasingly fragmented.

Whether Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tenure has been productive is beside the point. Maybe he’ll hold on to power, maybe somebody else from Umno will usurp him, but what matters most is that he kept the opposition in check while the rest of the party’s machinery went to work ensuring another MoU wouldn’t be necessary.

If an election was called today, BN would stand a strong chance of taking the government even if it sheds PAS and Bersatu, the thorns in its side that were tolerated so it could remain in power.

The biggest losers here are the Malaysian people. Political uncertainty and a weak economy go hand in hand. For Umno to push for an election now would be like digging itself a hole, jumping in, and hoping they can climb out once they are installed in Putrajaya. It’s a mighty risk, and piles pressure on them to be effective immediately.

Ultimately though, the MoU served its purpose. It bought time for the government to regroup and shed the stench of their poor governance during the pandemic. As much as Umno would like to blame the current state of affairs on Perikatan Nasional, the party was still very much a part of the coalition that sank the country’s finances with poor fiscal assistance and put countless families at risk.

In a perfect world, the government would have delivered on its commitments before even thinking about calling for an election. Instead, Umno spent the last nine months gearing up for national polls while doing just enough to keep the opposition in check.

Alas, this is not a perfect world. It’s BN’s world, and we’re all living in it. - FMT

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