Tales of defection in the month of September

Following the 2008 general election, which altered the Malaysian political landscape, Anwar Ibrahim disclosed a plan that had sent shivers down many a spine in Umno and BN.

The jailed former opposition leader claimed that on Sept 16 that year, the opposition would form the federal government through the defection of BN lawmakers.

There were numerous twists and turns during that period, which included a trip to Taiwan for BN MPs under the pretext of an agriculture study tour.

They were tailed by a group of PKR leaders, including vice-president Tian Chua, who was the party information chief then.

Despite the nail-biting suspense, Sept 16 came and went with BN still remaining in power and Anwar forced to conjure explanations for the failed coup.

The following year, however, the defection of opposition lawmakers led to the collapse of the opposition state government in Perak instead.

In 2014, Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee, one of those on the Taiwan trip from Sept 7 to 9, 2008, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the actual motive of the trip was to prevent the MPs from being enticed by Anwar to form a new government.

He said this when testifying as a defence witness in Anwar's defamation suit against Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.

Fast forward to 2017, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's press conference on Sept 17 has ignited the speculation of possible defections in Selangor.

Responding to this, Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali told The Malaysian Insight that Najib must respect the principles of democracy.

Dismissing the claim that PKR state assemblypersons were planning to jump ship, Azmin argued that it was the prime minister who is in a precarious position.

“Tell Najib that he has to be responsible and respect the principles of democracy in this country

“The one who is in a risky position is Najib because he is a leader who does not respect the principles of democracy and the decisions of the people,” he added.

On Sunday morning, the speculation mill went into high gear after news broke that Najib would hold a special press conference, where Umno leaders had been summoned to attend.

The next few hours were replete with numerous hypotheses ranging from Najib announcing the dissolution of parliament to a top gun having joined Umno.

Among the names which made the rounds was that of former cabinet minister Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is leading an opposition party in Sabah.

Najib, however, became the subject of ridicule when he announced the return of former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib and nothing more.

The prime minister's detractors such as Azmin took to twitter to criticise Najib and described Muhammad as an “old newspaper”.

Basically, the critics claimed that the fanfare generated for the press conference was not worthwhile for a spent political force such as Muhammad.

However, when the laughter died, conspiracy theories began to emerge.

Amanah Youth number two Shazni Munir Mohd Ithin claimed that it was naive to believe that Najib would hold a press conference just to announce Muhammad's return.

He wondered if the actual agenda was related to a political coup in Selangor.

PKR and PAS state lawmakers have denied the speculation concerning possible defections, vowing to respect the mandate obtained in the 2013 polls.

Some claimed the speculation was an attempt to deflect attention from Najib's public relations disaster, ignoring the fact that among those who peddled the coup claim was a Harapan member himself.

Last night, Umno information chief Annuar Musa claimed that more Harapan politicians would be crossing over.- Mkini