How Does Shafie Solve A Problem Like Umno

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What an explosive beginning to 2021. Hardly a week has gone by and already Malaysians are being treated to a show of a lifetime by Umno, with political pyrotechnics lighting up the skies in the daytime.
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Muhyiddin Yassin is hanging on by a thread. As Umno turns on the heat and pressure mounts on this brittle government, it is not a question of how they will fall, but when they will fall.
PPBM is simply being outmuscled and being told in no uncertain terms that the days of the PN government and Muhyiddin are numbered.
Umno has shown utter disrespect for Muhyiddin. What goes around comes around, doesn’t it? But they never tried the same tactics on Dr Mahathir Mohamad. They were simply willing to bide their time when the grand old man helmed the government.
So what has given Umno the strength and desire to go for the jugular?
The successful Perak coup maybe? The interest expressed by Umno in forming a government with opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders who were just as enthusiastic about it perhaps?
Or is this quite simply the plan of the grand master to exact revenge on those whom he felt had betrayed and wronged him? The possibilities are endless.
But where really does Shafie Apdal and Warisan stand in this scenario that is now at hand?
Bearing in mind that it was largely the joint efforts of PPBM and Umno that ousted Warisan following the Sabah state election last September, it would be interesting to see what their take is on the current situation.
Would they now throw their lot behind their sworn enemy Umno whom they ousted in GE14? Or would they now crossover to the PN government to keep Muhyiddin in power?
Are political frogs about to usher in the new year? Might be. You just never know.
It has to, however, reach a breaking point in Sabah because if Umno decides to withdraw their support for the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state government, then that government is no longer in power.
The other PN parties in the GRS government need only to join hands with Umno and Warisan to form an overwhelming majority in the state government, leaving the PPBM elected representatives out in the cold to lick their wounds.
Just having PBS and STAR in the house will do nothing for the GRS government because they simply will not have the numbers.
You could then see Bung Moktar Radin as the possible new chief minister in Sabah with the Warisan elected representatives taking up a sizeable portion of the state cabinet.
Impossible you might say? I beg to differ because politics is the art of making the impossible possible.
Political frogs aside (and there are many), you also have the “lalang” who are ready to bend where the wind blows. This is the political party that is neither here nor there.
They want to be with Muafakat Nasional (MN) and they also want to be with the PN government. With friends like PAS, who needs enemies?
But back to Shafie Apdal and Warisan.
They had the opportunity to opt for block voting when the Dewan Rakyat was convened at the 2021 budget session to oust the PN government and show their support for the PH government of which they had joined hands to battle the BN government in GE14 and came out victorious.
But they opted not to do so giving the flimsy excuse that they were not happy with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and his approach.
They had the opportunity to vote against the budget allocation for various ministries but chose not to do so.
Why? Was it because of hidden hands at work or the promise of untold rewards should Umno and BN return to power?
That would certainly explain their reluctance to exercise their power when it mattered most.
In that particular instance, only Mahathir came out smelling like a rose.
The DAP stayed non-committal.
Amanah apologised. And as for Anwar and his band of merry men who promised that the bills will fail at the third reading, it amounted to nothing more than just another cry wolf episode.
Now Anwar says he can still form a government without going to the polls. I wish him all the best on his dream.
Whatever happens in the next couple of days will determine just who we are and where do we stand.
If we cannot be the masters of our own destiny, then we are nothing but floor mats, footstools and pawns to be made use of and stepped upon by people who think that this is the only reason for our mere existence.
Welcome to 2021!
Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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