Din Dah Nak Lemas

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 Bukan sesuatu yang biasa bila seseorang itu kena kuarantin sebanyak dua kali, apa lagi kalau ia melibatkan Perdana Menteri. Rasanya, sepanjang pandemik Covid-19 ini melanda dunia, baik di penjuru negara mana sekali pun, tidak ada sesiapa pernah dikuarantin sebanyak dua kali.
Tetapi itulah yang ditakdirkan berlaku di negara kita dan ia pula terjadi kepada seorang Perdana Menteri. Apakah agaknya yang Tuhan mahu tunjukkan daripada perkara itu? Sebelum ini, Muhyiddin Yassin sering dipuji kerana beliau dikatakan seorang Perdana Menteri yang pandai membaca doa.
Untuk itu – tak tahulah sama ada diberi arahan atau tidak – saluran tv kerajaan telah mengulangsiar bacaan doa Muhyiddin itu berpuluh-puluh kali sehari sehingga akhirnya ramai yang jadi meluat dan jelak dengannya. Untuk itu, tiada keperluan mendengar doa yang sama daripada seorang Perdana Menteri sampai berpuluh-puluh kali dalam sehari.
Kerja asas Perdana Menteri ialah menolong, menyelesaikan masalah dan memberi kesejahteraan kepada rakyat. Kali pertama Perdana Menteri dikuarantin ialah apabila seorang pegawai tinggi kerajaan yang positif Covid-19 hadir dalam mesyuarat yang dipengerusikannya pada Mei lalu. Ketika itu beliau dikuarantin selama 14 hari.
Semalam pula, Muhyiddin sekali lagi dikuarantin selama 14 hari apabila mempengerusikan mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan Negara pada 3 Oktober lalu yang turut dihadiri Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Zulkifli Al-Bakri yang kini disahkan positif Covid-19.
Ini adalah kali kedua Muhyiddin dikuarantin dan ianya adalah sesuatu yang luar biasa dan ia pula tidak berlaku di negara lain atau kepada pemimpin-pemimpin lain, baik di negara Islam atau negara bukan Islam.
Sementara kita semua harus terus berdoa kepada Tuhan memohon perlindungan daripada wabak ini, sebaiknya secara diam-diam dan bukan dengan menunjuk-nunjuk, Muhyiddin khususnya harus mengambil banyak iktibar daripada peristiwa ini. - Shahbudin Husin

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s attempt to assure the public that his government does not practise double standards over those who flout Covid-19 quarantine drew brickbats, as critics pointed to his ministers who are still not punished for the offence.
Opposition MPs immediately took to social media to lambast the prime minister after he delivered a speech on live television, where he told the public that he now as an “abah”, or “daddy” will be sterner and would not spare the rod.
Several Opposition MPs particularly took aim at this statement, ridiculing what has become Muhyiddin’s trademark fatherly tone to suggest that the prime minister was oblivious to the public anger over the perceived special treatment his own ministers have received.
“‘Abah’ wants to cane the people. Why don’t he start with his own ministers? The people are okay, you are the stubborn ones,” said PKR’s Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasir.
Muhyiddin and his supporters have referred to him as “abah” since he took power, in a bid to cultivate a warm paternal personality with the public.
“You want to cane? Cane the minister Takiri first,” wrote Muar MP and former youth minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman. - malaymail
Handover Power, Not Dissolve Parliament...
When opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed on September 23 that he has in his possession the majority Member of Parliaments required to topple the backdoor government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, not everyone took the threat seriously. After all, Mr. Anwar had cried wolf before – about 12 years ago in 2008 on the same matter. Back in September 16, 2008, opposition leader Anwar announced that he had enough parliamentary support to topple the Abdullah Badawi government and urged the prime minister to give up power peacefully. Mr. Anwar needed 30 MPs to defect and join his now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition of 82 members. It failed to materialise, of course. As much as one likes to rubbish Anwar’s threat this round, not everyone thinks his threat is purely rhetorical. Unlike 12 years ago, this time his claim is being supported by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the UMNO president and chairman of Barisan Nasional (National Front), which controls a substantial majority of MPs within Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional (National Alliance) coalition.
Muhyiddin’s National Alliance ruling government has only razor-thin 2-majority vote – 113 MPs in the 222-seat Parliament – since the loosely glued coalition was formed to snatch power via a political coup from the legitimate and democratically voted Pakatan Harapan government. Barisan Nasional, one of two allies of Muhyiddin, has 42 MPs, hence it’s not hard to see why the government could easily collapse. Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) – comprising his People’s Justice Party (PKR), the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the National Trust Party – held 91 seats. Essentially, the PM-in-waiting needs only 21 MPs from Muhyiddin’s government to defect and join him. But that does not mean Anwar must show he has 112 MPs, the minimum needed to form a simple-majority government. There’s a much easier way – get at least 2 MPs currently supporting the federal government to declare that they have lost confidence in Muhyiddin administration. That would reduce Muhyiddin’s majority to 111 MPs in the Parliament, effectively overthrows the backdoor prime minister. Of course, this is assuming none of the opposition MPs will cross over to help Muhyiddin.
That explains why Muhyiddin insists that Anwar needs to prove he has parliamentary majority. By putting the burden of proof on Anwar, the backdoor PM knows it would be near to impossible for the PM-in-waiting to show his number because Muhyiddin’s appointed House Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun is under instruction not to allow any motion of “no confidence” against his boss. 
Instead of asking Anwar to prove his majority, exactly why Muhyiddin can’t move a motion of “confidence” for himself to prove his legitimacy once and for all? For months, the disgraced Speaker has repeatedly placed the motion at the bottom of the agenda. Therefore, seeking a confidence vote in the Parliament was a non-starter from the beginning due to Muhyiddin’s cowardice. But there are valid reasons why Anwar should not reveal his card at this moment, even if he has the numbers (speculated to be 129 MPs) behind him. The first thing Muhyiddin regime will do is to bribe, cajole, intimidate, and threaten MPs revealed to have crossed over to Anwar’s camp. For lust of power, those who walk the corridors of power could even make certain people “disappear”.
That would leave the Malaysia’s monarch, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, with two options – to dissolve the Parliament, leading to a nationwide election within 60 days, or to appoint a new prime minister (presumably Anwar can convince King Sultan Abdullah that he commands the confidence of the majority of the MPs). Interestingly, after Anwar’s stunning revelation, Muhyiddin has threatened to advise the King to dissolve the Parliament. The PM’s warning was to send a message that he would rather call a snap election, even if he will lose, rather than to hand over the throne peacefully and nicely wrapped to Anwar. This is another giveaway that the PM panicked – lending credence that Anwar has the numbers.
Must the King obediently agrees to dissolve the Parliament if PM Muhyiddin advises the monarch to do so? Not necessarily. While King Sultan Abdullah can only dissolve Parliament under the advisement of a prime minister, the monarch can reject such proposal. The King could argue that the PM ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives.
Therefore, instead of choosing the option to dissolve Parliament, the monarch can choose another option – to appoint a new prime minister, according to Article 40 (s) of the Federal Constitution. The King can appoint a Member of Parliament who, in his judgement, is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House of Representative).
Now, this is where things get interesting. Desperate Muhyiddin supporters have argued that the Agong is not obligated to meet opposition leader Anwar over his so-called crazy claim. However, the Palace has admitted that the monarch had postponed – NOT rejected – his meeting with Anwar on September 24 as he had to undergo treatment at the National Heart Institute (IJN).
The situation took a dramatic twist when the next day, Palace officials confirmed that King Sultan Abdullah will not grant an audience to anyone for a week as he was under observation. It got more suspense when the Palace announced on September 28 that the monarch was actually admitted on September 21 due to food poisoning and also to treat sports injuries.
The king has since been discharged three days ago (Oct 2). But the whole drama has created a perception that the monarch was under the influence of Muhyiddin not to meet Anwar for obvious reason. The Palace cannot delay the meeting indefinitely as the monarch might be accused as a corrupt king who is biased and does not treat Anwar fairly and justly.
Both Muhyiddin government and the Monarch also cannot demand that Anwar must first reveal publicly the MPs who supported him because the last time Mahathir did that, King Sultan Abdullah did not fairly grant an audience to the 94-year-old former prime minister to present his case. Flashback – on the eve of Muhyiddin’s swearing-in, Mahathir had claimed to have 114 votes.
Yes, someone was lying some 7 months ago (Feb 29) when both sides claimed to have the support of 114 MPs. But the Parliament has only maximum 222 seats, thus there were 6 ghost MPs. However, Mahathir had pre-emptively published the list of 114 MPs who supported him as the next prime minister, along with a letter to the Palace. Muhyiddin failed to do the same, but was sworn in anyway.
It got so bad that British newspaper The Guardian called it a “Royal Coup” – accusing King Sultan Abdullah of overturning a democratic election result that challenged a corrupt old order. Hence, it would be a huge mistake if the same monarch refuses to meet Anwar as such move will prove what the British news media had claimed in March to be legitimate and true. In the same breath, Sultan Abdullah should not dissolve Parliament even if the backdoor Prime Minister Muhyiddin advises him to do so. The reason is very simple – all the blames will be on the monarch if new clusters of Covid-19 infections happen during a nationwide election, which is not due until 2023. And based on the Sabah state election, spikes of infections will definitely happen. If even a minor state election in Sabah was capable of triggering record high 317 new cases (Oct 3), a nationwide election could certainly trigger new waves of infection cases in the thousands. It would certainly be hypocritical for the King to agree to a snap election when the same monarch has been expressing his concerns over the increase of Covid-19 cases due to Sabah Clusters. - FT
cheers.

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