Kudos to Anwar for rejecting Dr M as PM candidate

Malaysiakini:

Kudos to Anwar for rejecting Dr M as PM candidate

by Dr Ronnie Ooi

Congratulations to Anwar Ibrahim and PKR for making the right decision not to nominate Mahathir Mohamad as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister candidate. No doubt some will criticise Anwar for putting his alleged personal ambition to become PM above the interests of the country.

To defend Anwar’s and PKR’s decision, four political myths propagated by Mahathir and his followers need to be debunked.

The four political myths, together with their corresponding reality, are:

1. Winning the vote of no confidence results in the formation of a Harapan Plus government - no, it leads straight to a general election.

2. Wresting power from Muhyiddin Yassin is our most urgent task - no, discussing how to reform our rotten political system is our most urgent task.

3. Mahathir will pass the PM post to Anwar in six months - no, Mahathir wants to be PM for life.

4. Anwar needs DAP support to become PM - no, if DAP forms an electoral pact with Mahathir, DAP will rapidly lose support.

How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

2 Samuel 1:27

Winning the vote of no confidence leads straight to a general election

In the first place, it is extremely unlikely that Harapan Plus will have the numbers to succeed with a vote of no confidence. With government resources at his disposal, Muhyiddin is much more likely to buy over Harapan MPs than the reverse.

Many people fondly imagine that if the vote succeeds, then the Yang di-Pertuan Agong will appoint Harapan’s PM candidate as the next PM. But the Agong has an alternative: he can call a general election instead. For those who are unaware of this, I quote from 43 (4) of the Malaysian Constitution.

“If the Prime Minister ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister shall tender the resignation of the Cabinet.”

Our parliament is based on the Westminster model. This model stipulates that the sovereign must follow the advice of the PM of the day, even the PM who has just lost a vote of no confidence. If Muhyiddin loses the vote of no confidence, he will surely advise that a general election be called. By agreeing to it, the Agong would only be following established practice in countries practising the Westminster model of democracy.

The Agong has revealed that he asked Mahathir not to resign but Mahathir did not listen. At the opening of Parliament, he urged politicians not to plunge the country into a political crisis. By agitating for a vote of no confidence, Mahathir has gone against the Agong’s wishes. Besides, by appointing Mahathir, the Agong would be admitting that he was wrong to appoint Muhyiddin in the first place. Why then would the Agong appoint Mahathir as the PM when he has a constitutional alternative?

But even if I am completely wrong, and the Agong appoints Mahathir as the prime minister, this would only result in an unstable Harapan Plus government, as pointed out by Wong Chin Huat. Such a government will need to buy over and keep on feeding MPs who jump over from other parties (frogs or hungry ghosts), leaving little time to reform and govern the country.

In a matter of months, the frogs would jump back to their original parties. The Agong is smart enough to realise this. It is another reason why he will dissolve Parliament if the vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin succeeds.

If a general election is held in the near future, does anyone seriously believe that Harapan can win a majority and form the next government? If Harapan is not able to fight the Chini by-election, how can they fight a general election?

A general election in the near future will likely result in a stronger and more stable Perikatan Nasional government, perhaps even one with a two-thirds majority. Such a government will also have a term of five years, whereas Muhyiddin only has three years left before GE 15.

It is not urgent to oust Muhyiddin

Harapan politicians and many non-Malay voters believe that wresting power from Muhyiddin is the most urgent task. This is based on two arguments.

The first is that Muhyiddin’s backdoor government is not what the people voted for and therefore illegitimate. True, but Mahathir’s betrayal of his Harapan allies and the Harapan manifesto makes a Mahathir led government just as illegitimate as Muhyiddin’s government. 

An Anwar-led Harapan was what the people voted for, and the most legitimate from the moral point of view. Thus, there are differing views of what is legitimate, but in any case, legitimacy is not an argument for urgency.

The second argument is that Muhyiddin’s practice of using Cabinet, government and GLC positions in buy support, will bankrupt the country. Muhyiddin is also embarking on a policy of intimidation and repression. This is an argument for urgency. But if winning a motion of no confidence makes things worse rather than better, why table the motion? Surely the correct strategy would be to keep Muhyiddin in post until Harapan has regrouped, reorganised and is in a fit state to fight a general election?

The urgent task is discussing how to reform our rotten political system, not ousting Muhyiddin. But this is a big topic and will need another article.

Mahathir wants to be PM for life

It is obvious that Mahathir’s proposal that he becomes the PM with Anwar as the deputy and that he hands over to Anwar in six months provided that Anwar gets the support of the Sabah/Sarawak parties is an empty promise designed to camouflage his true intentions. As Shafie Apdal is such a strong supporter of Mahathir, it is highly unlikely that he will switch his support to Anwar after six months.

Besides, what normal person would take all the trouble to become a PM for only six months? What can anyone, even super Mahathir, achieve in six months? Let us not kid ourselves. If Mahathir becomes the next PM, he will want to do it for life, even extending beyond GE15. His obsession with the position will not allow him to give it up voluntarily.

It is not true for Anthony Loke to claim that “there are mechanisms in place to ensure Mahathir would step down after six months” or that “each Harapan component party will be able to bring down the government by itself if it pulls out”.

If the PM refuses to resign, which Mahathir will surely do, then the component party will need to ally itself with Bersatu, Umno and PAS, whose policies it may completely disagree with, in order to win a vote of no confidence to remove Mahathir. A long and arduous process with no guaranteed success and certain to anger the public.

DAP and Amanah should support Anwar

Many people urge unity: “Mahathir and Anwar are stronger together”. But it is rare for equal joint leaders to lead a political party. Politics is a tough trade and sometimes the law of the jungle applies: We have all seen on TV how an Alpha male is the leader of a group of gorilla or herd of wild deer. Similarly, a political party can only have one Alpha male or female as a leader.

Since both Anwar and Mahathir want the job, and neither is willing to concede, a fight becomes unavoidable. The fight may lead to a spit with Amanah and DAP leaving to form a new coalition with Mahathir. It is better to acknowledge this openly, rather than pretend to a sham unity which constantly breaks down.

If this happens, PKR need not be unduly worried. Mahathir is no longer trusted by the Chinese community and, following the Malay Dignity Congress, considered a racist. If DAP forms an alliance with Mahathir, this will be unacceptable to many of its members and supporters, who will turn to PKR instead.

PKR with significant Chinese membership will have no trouble representing them. Look at how far Chinese support for the DAP fell at the Tanjong Piai by-election because of its association with Mahathir. Without DAP, PKR can more quickly build up Malay support.

Mahathir’s words during an interview with Malaysiakini is revealing. He said: “If Harapan is seen as a multiracial outfit, I don’t think the Malay MPs would support us."

This shows that Mahathir considers multi-racial parties to be perpetual losers who can only win if attached to the coattails of a ‘ketuanan’ Malay party. He can only think in terms of BN 2.0, never as leader of a true multi-racial coalition.

Mahathir has shown, in his second period as the prime minister, that he has no new ideas, no new vision to take Malaysia forward but is constantly looking backwards to implement the failed policies of his first period in office, such as crony capitalism, the national car, teaching maths and science in English.

He is an obstacle to a New Malaysia who must be pushed gently aside. Anwar and PKR have done a service to the country by rejecting Mahathir as Harapan candidate for a prime minister.

The country is hungry for the third force. With Mahathir and PN representing the old politics, PKR and Harapan can be the leader of a new third force, with the new ideas needed to build the New Malaysia which so many of us want.



DR RONNIE OOI is a retired medical doctor