Analyst and ex-DAP member Ong Kian Ming also warns Umno to tread cautiously, reminding the party that 1MDB was one of the main reasons it fell from power in 2018.
Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst, said DAP must prove that allowing Najib out of prison was truly a “red line” for the party, especially as supporters will expect DAP to respond to the pardon with concrete action.
Ong said his former party should demand that Anwar boot Umno from the Cabinet before the next Cabinet meeting, to display Pakatan Harapan’s seriousness in disagreeing with Umno seeking Najib’s pardon and raising funds to pay its former president’s RM50 million fine.
“Deputy prime minister and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi openly challenged Anwar to remove Umno Cabinet members in the past few months.
“This would be the perfect opportunity for Anwar to take up Zahid’s challenge,” he said in a Facebook post, adding that the 2027 budget could still be passed without the support of the 30 Barisan Nasional MPs.
Ong said this ultimatum must include the Cabinet meeting deadline or it would only be a superficial statement rather than a credible threat.
The former Bangi MP also said it would make more sense than DAP resigning from the Cabinet.
He said it would be unfair to blame federal territories minister Hannah Yeoh, who sits on the Federal Territories Pardons Board, for carrying out a decision that was ultimately the king’s prerogative.
“If anyone should resign immediately, it should probably be Nga Kor Ming, who said in an interview before the Johor polls that he would resign as minister if BN won big in Johor and Najib was freed,” he said.
Ong said DAP could also threaten to pull support for the government as a whole, adding that this was highly likely to lead to Parliament’s dissolution as BN would be expected to do the same to trigger a loss of majority support for Anwar.
However, he said, this would be a riskier move as it would threaten PH’s foundations and even lead to the question of whether DAP should stay in the coalition.
“But if the 1MDB issue and Najib’s house arrest (are) indeed a ‘red line’ for DAP, then it makes sense for DAP to not just quit the Cabinet but also withdraw from the unity government, if Anwar does not agree to this demand.
“In other words, if DAP wants to issue such an ultimatum, it might as well go all the way so that its supporters are in no doubt about its commitment to this ‘red line’,” he said.
DAP’s central executive committee will meet at 3pm today to decide the party’s position and follow-up action after Najib’s conditional pardon.
Tread cautiously, Umno told
Ong also warned Umno to tread cautiously in responding to Najib’s conditional pardon, reminding the BN lynchpin that the 1MDB scandal was one of the main reasons it fell from power in 2018.
He said Umno should not take Malay support for granted despite its handsome victories in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections.
“What if PAS and Perikatan Nasional sense weakness in Umno’s public support because of its insistence on supporting Najib, without admitting to the mistakes made during the 1MDB scandal?
“Would this lead to a rethinking of a possible electoral pact between BN and PN in the upcoming general election?” he said. - FMT
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