Absence of check and balance necessitates change before GE15, says Anwar

EXCLUSIVE | The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government which came into power following a political coup is ruling the nation with impunity, according to Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim.

With check and balance absent, the 72-year-old politician argued that his coalition cannot wait until the 15th general election to recapture Putrajaya.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini at his office in Petaling Jaya yesterday, he indicated that Harapan would not trigger a snap poll and is working towards securing a comfortable majority in the Dewan Rakyat before making its next move.

"[… ] Of course, there is despair if you allow (the government) to continue without being kept in check.

"There are no parliamentary checks, mainstream media seems to be more subdued now and there is harassment against civil society, journalists and so on.

"So I think we don't have an option but to ensure that change takes place faster and not wait for the elections," he said.

The Harapan government had collapsed in February after Anwar's former deputy in PKR Azmin Ali and his allies as well as the Bersatu faction aligned to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin quit the coalition to join forces with Umno, BN and PAS to form PN with the support of Sarawak's GPS.

The May 18 Parliament sitting revealed that PN has a tissue-thin two-seat majority in the 222-member Lower House.

Recently, Harapan, together with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Bersatu faction and Sabah's Warisan hinted at possessing sufficient numbers to reclaim federal power.

In a Facebook live session yesterday, Anwar said Harapan had 107 MPs on its side. He later clarified with Malaysiakini that this was a "conservative estimate".

His office explained today that the figure comprised Harapan, Warisan and MP's aligned to Mahathir and did not take into account independents and others who were not represented at the Harapan meeting earlier this week.

Perils of a slim majority

In the interview with Malaysiakini, Anwar stressed that he would not compromise on principles for the sake of winning the numbers game.

The PKR president also declined to elaborate when asked if he had reached out to GPS, saying he is engaging all quarters.

Support from GPS could be crucial for Harapan in its bid to oust PN but at the same time, Harapan must ensure that its MPs do not switch sides as in the case of Lubok Antu MP Jugah Muyang, who left PKR to join PN last week.

Quizzed on this, Anwar was optimistic that other PKR lawmakers would not do the same or be tempted to turn their backs on Harapan due to financial problems or "very impressive offers".

"(Jugah) had expressed his problems to serve his constituency, not having enough money (to serve) and all that. I said we have to wait, what else can we do," he said.

On this note, Anwar said these problems would not arise if the MACC was vigilant and active against the alleged attempts to purchase the support of lawmakers.

With the numbers game still fluid, certain quarters like former premier Najib Abdul Razak argued that a change of government with a slim majority would lead to instability and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could instead choose to dissolve Parliament in order to hold national polls.

"I agree with Najib on this point,” said Anwar. “There is no point in forcing change when you have a very slim majority, because you would go back to square one... (if there are) one or two MPs not happy with their positions," he added.

Anwar said while all options are on the table, Harapan should focus on strengthening its election machinery and base if it cannot form a stable government.

Furthermore, Anwar said it would not be conducive to hold a general election at this point amid the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions would hamper campaigning efforts.

Below are excerpts from the interview, which have been edited for language and brevity:

Malaysiakini: You mentioned you only have 107, if you want a stable government you need more than just five more MPs, maybe 10 or 15 MPs.

Anwar: I am conservative on these things. It was a conservative estimate, 107. But as you know, they (PN) have 111, so there’s still this range. And of course, I’m not in a position to say more. But I must say there are thinking elements even among (PN) MPs. It is not just about ministerial positions, GLCs.

I have been reading some of the Malay media yesterday and today, (they said that) Muhyiddin is apolitical, or not too political. That is an absurd statement to make. It is unprecedented the way he appoints ministers, deputy ministers, GLCs, and spends time talking to MPs and bringing them in. This is politics.

But it is low-level politics, not sophisticated politics where you talk about policies and argue about change. Here, you are just telling them (what you are offering) and buying them over. And you can have the audacity to assume or suggest there is no politics.

So there are a lot of people who have concerns. They are saying, 'Okay but what is happening with the country, for the last three months and the next three months?' I am not sure a July parliament session can be held even.

So what is happening to this country, is it an emergency? And what is wrong with the political elite and intelligentsia? How can you just accept these excesses in terms of the appointments, GLCs, there is no regard at all. You can even touch Petronas, which is somewhat sacrosanct. In the worst of periods, people still maintain a political distance from Petronas.

To me, it is really worrying. If you are not careful, once the excesses are exposed, combined in terms of volume, it may be worse than 1MDB. Because there is no check and balance at all.

Because of Covid-19, therefore, there are no tenders, people are just dishing out contracts.

I am not sure if these PN MPs are joining us or supporting us. But you would be surprised that people in PN are now saying, 'Look, there is no future for this country.' There are concerns, one regarding the country's multiracial-unity spirit, Number two is about the issue of governance and excesses. So I remain optimistic.

Malaysiakini: Are you confident about securing a comfortable majority?

Anwar: If you ask Anwar, Anwar has always been confident. Even in 1998, I was the incorrigible optimist. Even when I was in prison, when they asked, 'What do you think?’ I would say, 'Yes we are going to win.'

Malaysiakini: So if we may just condense this, you are saying that acquiring the numbers is still a work in progress, and in your personal opinion, you hope to facilitate change before GE15 because of the situation the nation is facing?

Anwar: If we can secure enough support, naturally of course anybody, not only for me but for anyone who can secure the support (we will facilitate change).

But as you know, our position is that they have gone against the mandate, number two, they are not legitimate and number three, it (PN) is very fragile. Every day, there are threats from Umno.

Malaysiakini: What about Sarawak? PKR has lost quite a lot of support in the state. You used to have a strong presence there. Not so much anymore. How do you see your chances in the coming state election?

Anwar: Well, that happens to be partly, I concede, my problem. Because I think we just left Sarawak and Sabah at that time to Azmin’s group to just deal with it. Because they had the funds from Selangor and such. So he had that core of support, and if you followed (the developments), we had problems there in the past year.

Because I could see the trend, it is no longer about policies or native customary rights or land rights. It's just a matter of positions, and perks that they are getting. And of course, finally they were appointed, and they said it is not the party that appointed them to the cabinet, it was Azmin who appointed them. Which to me was really odd but that was the reality and that is why we have a problem in the party. Not much help from the Harapan government in that sense.

But I don't think they are getting enough support at the base, because they are seen to be aligned with Umno and PAS. Number two, they see they are not moving at all, the ground is not shaken, it is just the leaders who are getting perks. So we are monitoring it with the new team and we are getting even new Dayak intellectuals, professionals coming in. I think there is still some hope, but it is tough, I agree.

It hasn't been easy, except when you start playing, here Malays for the peninsula and you have Dayaks for Sarawak. You play that race card, it is not going to help to sustain the country.

- Mkini