Muhyiddin knows his days as PM may be numbered

 

MP SPEAKS | Muhyiddin Yassin knows his days as prime minister may be numbered and he has produced his counter-stroke – a snap 15th general election (GE15) if the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-BN-PBS alliance wins the Sabah state general election.

Umno has been pressing for a snap general election for it believes that with the Muafakat Nasional, which it formed with PAS, it was in a good position not only to recapture power and restore an Umno prime minister, but to win big even with a more than two-thirds parliamentary majority.

But the Umno leadership has been reluctant to topple Muhyiddin as prime minister as there are Umno ministers and deputy ministers in the PN government – of which Umno ministers and deputy ministers are a part of but not Umno itself.

The internal bickerings and numerous contradictions in the PN government as well as between PN and Muafakat have produced the weakest prime minister in the nation’s history, with the nation not only losing its political will to fight kleptocracy but swiftly becoming a kakistocracy with the worst elements in society occupying important positions in the government.

This is why Muhyiddin dares not take any disciplinary action against mediocre and errant cabinet ministers, presenting Malaysia and the world the sorry spectacle of the prime minister frequently preaching the need for Malaysians to comply with the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) if the country is to be on top of the pandemic, but impotent and unable to take action against members of the administration who violate Covid-19 SOPs, including quarantine SOPs.

The prime minister could not even discipline deputy ministers who reacted disgracefully and unprofessionally to the plucky 18-year-old girl from Pitas, Sabah, Veveonah Mosibin, who spent 24 hours on a treetop to gain better Internet connectivity to sit for an online examination and whose Youtube netted over 820,000 views.

Muhyiddin said there will be snap elections if the PN-BN-PBS alliance wins the Sabah state general election – but where is the alliance?

Muhyiddin has named Sabah Bersatu head Hajiji Mohd Noor as the next chief minister of Sabah but Umno and PBS do not agree. 

Sabah Umno wants Bung Moktar Radin as the next chief minister while PBS is keeping its candidate as the chief minister close to its chest.

PN, BN and PBS have different beds and different dreams. 

They are not only clashing on the chief ministerial candidate, they are also fighting on seat allocation and endorsing independents contesting against their own allies and accusing each other of betrayal. 

In the PN, BN and PBS political wilderness, nobody knows who is a friend and who is foe.

Is Muhyiddin producing his counter-stroke to get support from his so-called allies in the Sabah election for Hajiji to be the sole candidate for the chief minister post - with the offer of a snap election for the whole of Malaysia?

Muhyiddin wants a “signal” from the Sabah state election that the people support PN and want him to continue as prime minister – but Muhyiddin should be realistic enough to know that if Umno wins big in a snap general election, it will want an Umno leader as prime minister and Muhyiddin will become the biggest casualty.

But Muhyiddin is so desperate that he has become the only prime minister who is campaigning so hard in the Sabah state election, even to the extent of flouting election laws. This has caused electoral watchdog Bersih to urge the MACC to probe the alleged breach of electoral laws by the inducement of voters when he handed over mock cheques amounting to more than RM60 million to representatives of fisherfolk and farmers at an event in Beaufort, Sabah.

The Sabah state election has national significance.

If it is possible to produce a political feat in GE14 on May 9, 2018 to defeat the seemingly invincible BN and topple the premiership of Najib Abdul Razak, it is not impossible to restore the mandate for democratic reforms and institutional change brought by GE14 as the mandate was snatched away by an illegitimate and backdoor “Sheraton Move” conspiracy after 22 months, when the mandate was for five years.

What is needed is a signal from the Sabah election – for Warisan Plus to win with sufficient seats not only to form the new state government but with a more than two-thirds majority to end the political culture of defections in Sabah and later in Malaysia.

Sabah is known as the Land Below the Wind – and I call on Sabahans to start a wind of change in Malaysia on Sept 26, by ensuring that Warisan Plus not only wins but win with a two-thirds majority, as a forerunner to the restoration of the mandate of integrity, justice and progress in national governance in GE15.

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LIM KIT SIANG is DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.