A Stable Govt With An Unpopular Pm

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has made it clear that he will not resign despite mounting pressure from his critics.
In justifying his stand, he strongly believes there is no reason for him to vacate his post, as he had not siphoned off any money from the public coffers.
He said, “If I steal the people’s money, then they can call for me to step down. But I did not do so.”
To be fair to the prime minister, he has not been implicated so far with any crime involving the embezzlement of public money.
ADSIt is not clear how he views the personal civil suit brought against him by his former aide, Yusoff Rawther. Yes, the suit does not accuse him of any financial wrongdoing. Therefore, it is unlikely he will step down, assuming Yusoff wins the suit.
His political enemies, however, believe otherwise. They argue that any sitting prime minister must not only be absolutely clean but must be seen to be extremely clean. They contend the prime minister must be even free from any allegation of moral depravity as well.
The personal suit brought against him entails the alleged moral degradation on his part, hence unbefitting of him to hold a baton as the prime minister.
Lacking governance ability
In calling for the prime minister to step down immediately, his critics also cite his alleged lack of governance ability and the various problems facing the country as one of the reasons.
Is there any constitutional provision legalising a sitting prime minister to resign even before his term ends? Certainly, there is. But there are certain procedures that need to be complied with.
“Under the present law, the constitutional test for any sitting PM to resign or not does not determine whether he is a saint or a bad guy.”
It goes without saying that any prime minister who is involved in siphoning off any public funds should duly resign if we were to agree with the prime minister’s aforementioned logic.
In reality, however, that still remains a pipe dream in Malaysian politics.
Despite being implicated in the 1MDB saga, did Najib Abdul Razak graciously resign when 1MDB reared its ugly head and tarnished the nation?
Najib not only failed to step down, but even his kleptocratic crime was unashamedly “defended” by many people as if it were business as usual.
And now some elements believe he should be given special treatment despite being unanimously convicted by the court, and even though he still has a slew of court cases hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles.
ADSPolitics is about power
Anyway, the reason given by the prime minister is definitely not the legal test to be applied in asking any sitting prime minister to resign. Perhaps in a utopian state, we may see it happen.
Politics is about power. And the true nature of power is that it is delicious, and absolute power is absolutely delicious.
The prime minister is legally right when he asserts that his critics should use proper channels, like tabling a motion of no-confidence in Parliament to challenge his leadership.
A motion of no-confidence in challenging the leadership of the prime minister has to do with the issue of numbers.
With the whip system in place and closely adhered to by almost all political parties in our Parliament, the opposition parties seem to acknowledge that any attempt to unseat the prime minister via a motion of no-confidence in Parliament is definitely an arduous task.
Hence, so far, we have not heard any opposition party mooting such a route.
Many political analysts believe the current political situation seems to depict this scenario, that Malaysia is governed by a relatively stable government, but with a hugely unpopular prime minister. He is also facing deep internal rifts within his own political party.
Until and unless the prime minister is fully ready and willing to graciously step down, or the prime minister’s allies are equally convinced with the opposition’s narrative that the Madani government is certainly not on the right track, or Rafizi Ramli and the PKR gang are bold enough to penalise the prime minister and his government, people may need to wait for the general election. - Mkini
HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy law minister.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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