Mahathir had challenged his former lieutenant Muhyiddin to sack him. And Prime Minister Muhyiddin did exactly that. Mahathir’s successors – Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak – did not dare sack their former boss. At the most, Najib regime only dared to harass Mahathir’s wife, 91-year-old Siti Hasmah, by interrogating her in 2018 for participating in an “opposition demonstration”.
Congratulation Muhyiddin Yassin! You have booted Mahathir Mohamad from Bersatu (PPBM), the party that he co-founded in 2016. Mahathir, who was the party’s chairman, was fired yesterday along with 4 other Bersatu MPs for not supporting Muhyiddin’s backdoor government. But there’s one problem with the sacking – it was done illegally, not to mention cowardly.
While Mahathir had said he was willing to be fired by Muhyiddin, who was only the party’s president, former PM Mahathir also reminded that it must be done “legally and properly”. A complaint must first be lodged to the party disciplinary board, followed by an investigation by the disciplinary board. Thereafter, a show-cause letter must be sent, allowing Mahathir to defend himself.
The clueless Muhyiddin, however, had tried – quietly – using the party’s Supreme Council to sack the disobedient Mahathir faction of 5 MPs (including son Mukhriz) on May 11, only to call off the meeting abruptly due to legality issue. A Supreme Council meeting can only be called by the party chairman, who happened to be Mahathir himself. But Mahathir was not invited to the meeting.
In short, there was no way Bersatu president Muhyiddin can expel Bersatu chairman Mahathir, at least not through a proper process. So, the desperate backdoor prime minister used the coward’s way – sending errand boy, Bersatu organising secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya, to issue 5 letters to the 5 defiant Members of Parliament.
Citing Articles 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party constitution, the letters said the membership of the 5 Bersatu MPs had ceased with immediate effect. Apparently, the letters said the five were fired because they decided to sit together with the Opposition bloc during the May 18 Dewan Rakyat (Lower House of Parliament) proceedings instead of the Muhyiddin government bloc.
Articles 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party constitution says that a party member’s membership will cease immediately if they declare that they quit the party or if they join or become a member of any other political parties in the country. But Mahathir and his 4 loyalists did not quit the Bersatu party, let alone join other political parties. They just sat together with the Opposition bloc out of “protest”.
Exactly how can the genius Muhyiddin explain that 2 Bersatu assemblymen in Penang can switch support for his backdoor Perikatan Nasional government, but 5 Bersatu MPs cannot switch support for opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition? Like the 2 assemblymen, the 5 MPs did not leave or switch or hop party – they only “switch support”.
Heck, even if Mahathir has expressed explicitly that he wanted to sit together with the Opposition bloc instead of Muhyddin’s government bloc, such action was not an offence. There’s no law or rules that say a Member of Parliament must sit based on their party affiliation. It was only by tradition that an MP normally sits together with members of his/her own party.
In fact, to deny Mahathir and his 4 loyalists from “befriending” and “sitting” together with the Opposition block is a violation of freedom of association under Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution. That’s why anti-hopping law, be it in Penang or Kelantan, is unconstitutional. The five musketeers cannot be sacked unless they officially quit Bersatu party or join other political parties.
To make matters worse, the position of Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya as Bersatu organising secretary is itself a laughing stock. Not only the position has zero executive power (which makes the termination letters invalid), the position actually “does not exist” in the party’s constitution. All matters regarding party membership fall under the secretary-general’s jurisdiction, not “organising secretary”.
Interestingly, PM Muhyiddin was conveniently under 14-day Covid-19 quarantine when his errand boy issued the half-baked termination letters. Yes, not only the coward prime minister locked the Parliament to stop a vote of no-confidence against his government, he also did not have the courage to defeat his former boss’ son in the party’s coming election.
The latest move to sack Mahathir may be seen as a brilliant tactic to consolidate Muhyiddin’s power in Bersatu. It could be the backdoor premier’s tactic to crush any hopes among some Bersatu MPs to switch sides to Mahathir’s camp. It might be a strategic move to cut the oxygen supply to the Opposition of any prospect of a coup to snatch back the power from Muhyiddin.
But there was a reason why neither the sleeping beauty Abdullah Badawi nor the powerful Najib Razak had sacked Mahathir. The best option was to let Mahathir moans, whines, and bitch until he quits the party voluntarily so that he cannot cry of being victimised. Hence, Muhyiddin’s move is not only a huge mistake, but also magnifies how terrified and panicked he was.
If Muhyddin had in his possession a convincing majority in the 222-seat Parliament, would it not be wise to claim his legitimacy by allowing a vote of no-confidence in the Lower House? Likewise, if he is strongly supported and admired within his own party, would it not be best to prove his leadership by contesting against Mukhriz Mahathir to defend his Bersatu presidency?
As the powerful prime minister, Muhyddin has unlimited access to national funds to bribe and buy support in his party election. There’s no way he can lose. Why didn’t he take the bull by the horns and contest, win and gain respect within the party members? Has he no confidence of winning against the Mahathir father-and-son team, who no longer walk the corridors of power?
Ahh, as proven in the recent May 18 Parliament proceedings, Muhyiddin has only support from 113 MPs – just 2 majorities – despite massive bribing and politicking since March 1. For this reason alone, the pathetic Muhyiddin throws tantrums, axing Mahathir and his gang for their refusal to sit together in the government bloc to project a fake image that the PM enjoys a big majority.
Mr. Muhyiddin might think he has cleverly cleansed the party of Mr. Mahathir’s faction with the illegal termination of the 5 MPs’ membership. But Mahathir thrives every time he is down and provoked. Not only the old man may sue Muhyiddin leadership in court, leading to instability and distraction, it would indirectly unite the opposition Pakatan Harapan with Mahathir once again.
Besides his cowardice, Muhyiddin’s disgusting manoeuvre would be seen as a government that practises dictatorial-style leadership, similar to that of the previous UMNO regime, who did not respect the rule of law. More importantly, when an old tiger is pushed to the corner, it will have nothing to lose. If Muhyiddin thinks Mahathir will bend over now, he is stupider than he looks.
Whether Mahathir and his loyalists are “partyless” or not, it won’t stop the old man from creating serious troubles for Muhyiddin. When he quit UMNO in 2016 in despise of Najib regime, he started from the scratch with zero MP, but stunningly brought down the invincible corrupt government. Who is Muhyiddin faction compared to the once mighty UMNO, who had ruled the country for 62 years?
Some analysts said Mahathir is game over after his sacking. Others argued that only a small handful of politicians was aligned to the 94-year-old politician. They have clearly forgotten that Bersatu only won 13 parliamentarian seats in the 2018 general election. The party doubled its size with defection of 13 MPs from UMNO, followed by the defection of Azmin Ali and his 10 traitors.
In essence, almost half of Bersatu’s original MPs are still with Mahathir, not to mention 9 MPs from Sabah-based Warisan plus UPKO (1), Parti Bersatu Sarawak (1) and independent Baru Bian (1). Mahathir has in his pocket 17 MPs – a number that continues to haunt the insecure Muhyiddin. But Mahathir’s real power is his influence after his 22-year-rule from 1981 to 2003.
There are still some trump cards which Mahathir has yet to play. Muhyiddin’s biggest mistake was to release crooks like Riza Aziz (stepson of Najib Razak) of money laundering charges. And now he commits another blunder by sacking Mahathir and his son. Surrounded by pretentious allies UMNO and PAS, the last thing Muhyiddin wants is to create a new enemy like Mahathir. - financetwitter
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