Less than a year after becoming prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga has announced on Friday that he would be stepping down from the top post on Sept 29.
It doesn’t need too many reasons, valid or not, nor a lengthy period for a Japanese prime minister to make up his mind to quit.
That is normal in Japanese politics. When a Japanese leader knows that his time is up, he will go willingly without much fanfare. In Malaysia, we even need a king to apply pressure before our prime minister would let go.
In Japan’s modern history, Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of more than eight years. Tsutomu Hata, prime minister for 64 days from April 28, 1994, to June 30, 1994, was the shortest-serving PM.
In Malaysia, our eighth prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, is now the shortest-serving premier of 17 months when he stepped down on Aug 16.
But who is certain that current Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will serve longer than 17 months? Anything can happen from now until the 15th general election which is due in May 2023.
Assuming Ismail Sabri has a smooth ride from now till GE15, he would have served a total of 21 months.
However, if another political crisis takes place, Ismail Sabri may opt to call for early elections next year. When that happens, there is every possibility that Malaysia will, for the first time in its history, have five prime ministers in five years.
That is akin to adopting Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s “Look East” policy of the 1980’s, taking a bizarre cue from Japan’s unbecoming habit of changing prime ministers like we change our inner garments.
For six years from 2006 to 2012, Shinzo Abe, Yasuo Fukuda, Taro Aso, Yukio Hatoyama, Naoto Kan and Yoshihiko Noda served as the Japanese prime minister for a year each until Abe returned to helm the government again in 2012.
In Malaysia, Najib Abdul Razak was prime minister in 2018, Mahathir in 2019, Muhyiddin in 2020 and Ismail Sabri in 2021. And we could well have another prime minister in 2022.
From now till the end of 2022, there are still 15 months. A week, let alone 15 months, is a long time in politics. Anything is still possible. Muhyiddin could even do a Shinzo Abe or a Mahathir by returning as prime minister for the second time.
Let’s face it. Malaysians are just as uncomfortable with Ismail Sabri as they were with Muhyiddin. Barely two weeks into his administration, there are obvious signs that the people’s discontentment and disappointment in the new prime minister have gone up several notches.
Much as I do not like to repeat myself, I have to say it - Ismail Sabri is no reformer. He is not what we had wanted and expected of a new prime minister after the fall of Muhyiddin. We worry now that he could be the worst leader than his predecessor and our concerns are valid.
What were my expectations of Ismail Sabri after he was appointed our ninth prime minister?
Top on my list was a lean and mean cabinet of 20 ministers and 10 deputies at most. I expect it to be a “war cabinet”. It was supposed to be an interim cabinet with an interim prime minister to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery, wasn’t it? These were the two crucial battles before us.
And what did Ismail Sabri present to us? The same old ‘KerajaanGagal’ cabinet; a Muhyiddin’s cabinet 2.0 of non-performers.
Now, we are aware of what actually happened. According to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Ismail Sabri gave the impression as if he could not do anything and had to keep the previous ministers.
“It showed as if he is sitting in the position because of political moves by other politicians, including Muhyiddin. It seems that the system is only for one to stay in power, and does not care about the rakyat,” Anwar was quoted by The Vibes as saying.
The opposition Pakatan Harapan has a trump card - the coming confidence motion in Parliament, or so they thought.
Now, Attorney-General Idrus Harun is singing a different tune, saying that a vote of confidence is not necessary as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had already appointed Ismail Sabri as prime minister as per the Federal Constitution.
Surely, we do know where this is going to lead to and it would be to the advantage of those in power.
According to Anwar, Ismail Sabri had apparently hinted to him that he does not want the vote of confidence to be held in Parliament.
The Port Dickson MP claimed that after his meeting with the prime minister on Aug 25, Ismail Sabri whispered “maybe there is no need for a vote of confidence” to him.
But before anything else, Ismail Sabri has lost my vote of confidence further when he announced more appointments of appeasement for his political allies.
On Friday, he reinstated three special envoys, PAS’ Hadi Awang, PDP’s Tiong King Sing and SUPP’s Richard Riot, to their former positions. What work do they do during this lockdown?
Yesterday, the prime minister appointed Muhyiddin as the National Recovery Council (NRC) chairperson with the status of minister.
Not surprisingly, the public backlash was fast and furious. This appointment just does not make sense to anyone, except to Muhyiddin himself perhaps.
I am dumbfounded as this is the first time a former Malaysian prime minister, already adjudged a failure, wriggled his way back unashamedly to a more junior cabinet post. Is the man that politically desperate?
I have a message for Harapan. Up to this stage, I am sure many Malaysians will look forward to a new prime minister by next year.
Ismail Sabri lacks courage, self-respect and dignity and has no leadership qualities. A mere follower cannot lead the nation. He must go.
I am looking forward to really having five prime ministers in five years. It appears that is the only option left to save this nation.
We need a new prime minister and let it be from Harapan this time. - Mkini
FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is the author of “Hijack in Malaysia: The Fall of Pakatan Harapan”. Obtain autographed copies from sirsiah@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.