by e.s.shankar
Refer: Muhyiddin Offers Olive Branch
This is not an olive branch that PM Mahiaddin is offering the Opposition, but a poisoned chalice or booby trap.
Article 43 (4) of The Federal Constitution of Malaysia could not be clearer:
“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”.
PM Mahiaddin
publicly admitted today that he does not have the majority in Parliament any more.
‘Shall’ means must and that shall be TODAY, not tomorrow, next week or next month.
It is mandatory! There is therefore no longer a need for a vote of confidence
in Parliament.
All that
remains to be done is for Mahiaddin to meet the King at once and tender his
resignation. It also means the entire cabinet and PN government would fall too.
This is what Mahiaddin swore to in March 2020 - to be loyal to the King, to uphold the
Constitution and be accountable to Parliament. Now, instead of being true to
his oath of office, he is doing the exact opposite i.e. defying the King and
being disloyal to him, trashing the Constitution and locking down Parliament.
Once Mahiaddin
tenders his resignation to the King, it is not his business to be concerned about
which party has the majority to form the next government or who will be the
next prime minister. It is a matter for the King to handle as he did in March
2020 when Mahiaddin and PN staged a backdoor coup with what has been dubbed as the
‘Sheraton Hotel Move’.
Mahiaddin’s
offer today to the Opposition for a reforms agenda in exchange for him staying
on as PM with a PN-Opposition “Unity Government” and cemented with a ‘Confidence
& Supply Agreement’ so that the Opposition will not vote him or his bills
out, is as dishonest and insincere as one can expect from a Ketuanist. It was
Mahiaddin who in 2010 said he was ‘a Malay first’ and then in 2020 championed a
Muafakat or Islamic non-inclusive administration. This is a classic bluff from
a drowning zombie. It may well be that Mahiaddin’s thinking faculty has been
seriously affected by prolonged cancer and that he suffers from an obsession
for power and delusions of grandeur.
If Mahiaddin
was genuine about reforms, why has it been offered only at the 11th
hour when the noose is tightening around his neck? Why did he not suggest a Unity
Government before last December when he “advised’ the King to declare an
Emergency. The King then refused. Everyone now knows that it was a blatant attempt
to shut down Parliament so that a vote of no confidence could not be tabled
against him. But, a month later, and no one knows what convincing arguments Mahiaddin
cooked up, the King agreed to the Emergency effective from 12 January 2021. Emergency expired on 1 August. Mahiaddin had agreed
to reconvene Parliament on 26 July after being arm-twisted by the King
only to shut it with the ridiculous excuse that there were 4 suspected cases of
covid19 among Parliament staff.
Truth was, Law
Minister Takiyuddin had misled Parliament that the King had approved revocation
of Emergency Ordinances. In fact, the King embarrassingly revealed via an
official communique that he had insisted that the ordinances be tabled before Parliament,
debated and therefore, voted on. It was an unheard of resounding slap in the
face of a sitting prime minister by a
King, as Takiyuddin would not have been dishonest in Parliament without his
prime minister’s agreement. Parliament was hastily locked down on 29 July and has been shut since.
So, the events
of today reveal Mahiaddin to be an incompetent, bumbling and power crazy prime
minister. A prime minister who insults and defies the King and trashes Parliament
never was, is not now and never will be, fit to lead the nation. Worse, under
his administration between 12 January when Emergency came into
force and today, Covid19 infections have exceeded 700% and deaths, 1,500%!!! The
economy is in tatters and the people, more divided than ever before. That is
criminal.
I hope that DAP
MP’s Tony Pua and Ong Kian Ming were playing the devil’s advocate in saying
that we should give face to Mahiaddin’s desperate bid to cling on to power. No
one and I mean no one, should give the slightest support or co-operation to PM
Mahiaddin or PN who fundamentally created a bloated Cabinet of 70 members and
an administration that gave little representation in government, GLC’s and
public institutions to non-Muslim. They backstabbed the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in March 2020. What assurance do we have that they will not stick a knife in our backs again?
There’s no deal
to be struck with Ketuanists and religious bigots. I say we insist that the Constitution
be respected and mandatory procedures be followed accordingly. Let the Rule of
Law win. That is the basis on which the Opposition should meet the King and
petition him. If that does not go our way, they should take it to the courts. The
Constitution and Parliamentary Democracy are the lifeblood of a civilized country. Blink and we shall end up with dictators, worse, a theocracy and a truly
doomed and failed state.
No Deals!
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