Not Unity Govt But Legitimate Govt Needed

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With the Yang di-Pertuan Agong meeting with various leaders of political parties, speculations centre on what kind of government may be formed after these consultations.
There is a suggestion that a unity government comprising representatives of all political parties may be the answer to the present uncertainty on whether Perikatan Nasional indeed has majority support to govern the country rightfully.
This is not a workable plan. Leaders in the unity government will be pulling the nation in all different directions to ensure that their base support will remain intact. The interest of the nation may not be their main priority. Arriving at a common strategy to plan for the nation’s welfare may take a back seat.
There will be competition to outdo their rivals and they will come up with ideas just to impress their members. This reminds me of the 1960s when Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, suggested that the vacancy caused by the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations secretary-general, be filled by three men on a rotational basis to represent the three groupings.
US President Kennedy, in dismissing this proposal, emphasised, “However difficult it may be to fill Mr Hammarskjold's place, it can better be filled by one man rather than three. Even the three horses of the Troika did not have three drivers, all going in different directions. They had only one […]”.
This is what is likely to happen when a unity government comprising various parties is implemented. It is difficult to work as one team with a common purpose of supporting a common agenda.
Then there is a suggestion that a prime minister is appointed and be given a free hand to pick his own ministers to form the cabinet. These individuals appointed as ministers will only be beholden to the PM and not answerable to anyone else.
This method will not allow any checks and balances and the appointed PM will be free to do as he wishes. This will be totally unacceptable and will go against the notion of parliamentary democracy. We can’t have one man running or ruining the country – that will be akin to a dictatorship.
A legitimate govt
The only sensible thing to do to govern the country effectively and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic seriously is to set up a legitimate government with has majority support and which is answerable to Parliament. 
Such a government will not feel the need to appoint half-backed politicians to positions of responsibility, paying huge salaries for warming up the seat in order to remain in power with their support.




A legitimate government will have the freedom to appoint people with a proven track record and of a suitable calibre to assume leadership in GLCs, for example. The best will be harnessed to serve the nation and chart a course that will serve the country effectively. Money will not go down the drain unnecessarily.
Alternatively, let the Agong appoint someone who can prove that he has majority support. We had this opportunity in February 2020 when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed he had this support but this claim was not tested or disproved and simply ignored.
Instead of providing the names of individual MPs, Anwar merely provided the names of certain leaders who held on to some MPs who had pledged their support for Anwar. If only these leaders had been summoned for their confirmation, it would have solved Anwar’s claim of majority support. Unfortunately, this did not take place.
One can understand why Anwar did not want to submit the names of individual MPs; the genuine fear of an inadvertent leak and the fear that these people can be compelled to switch sides. 
If these names were leaked, then through the twisting of arms and limbs, these supporters would be forced to withdraw their allegiance to Anwar. Some may find it irresistible to refuse inducements that come in the millions.
Mahathir's legacy
At that time, both Anwar and Dr Mahathir Mohamad were bidding to be PM; both had their supporters and their numbers were fairly known. In the Parliament of 222 MPs, one must have the support of a minimum of 112 MPs to claim the right to be PM. 
Considering the support that both Anwar and Mahathir had, Muhyiddin Yassin definitely did not have this minimum number. Nevertheless, he was appointed PM.
I think the time has arrived to put to the test Anwar’s claimed numbers. If he still has that majority support, let him be appointed PM.
If this is not feasible, let Parliament reconvene. Let Parliament decide who should be the PM. This will be a democratic way to get out of the present impasse. There is no reason not to recall Parliament. The Agong had stated that Parliament can meet. 




Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (left) and the Agong
But Muhyiddin is refusing to submit himself to any parliamentary scrutiny to prove his legitimacy. He does not want Parliament to meet because he is aware that when this happens, he will no longer be the PM.
If this present emergency had been declared during Pakatan Harapan’s time and had the Agong decreed that Parliament could meet and if the Harapan government had refused, can you imagine the furore the opposition would have created? 
They would scream that Harapan had not shown any respect to the Agong and that their behaviour was kurang ajar. They would have taken to the street shouting that the constitution was not being honoured. Their cyber boys would have gone on the warpath.


Now that the shoes are on their feet, you can see their hypocrisy. They have ignored the Agong’s statement and refused to reconvene Parliament.
The only one left
The country is still reeling from the aftereffects of Mahathir’s 22-year iron rule and we are in this mess because of his policies. The tolerance, the fairness, the camaraderie, the harmony that we have known in the past – all these have gone. 
Bigotry, intolerance, religious hegemony, discrimination, marginalisation of the minority and the poor are inherited from his policies and to this day this dominates our national policy.
Najib Abdul Razak’s rule only established the fact of how easy it is to loot the country and get away without any punishment. Just look at the Umno leaders on trial and how they have fleeced the country for their personal benefit.
Then we have the leadership of Muhyiddin as Bersatu PM. His lacklustre leadership did not pull us out of the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. His performance is nothing to crow about. 
His only achievement that stands out as a ridiculous aspiration was in creating the world’s largest cabinet of 72, draining the wealth of the nation to secure support to remain as PM.
And that leaves Anwar, the only one left, capable and waiting, who should be picked and given a chance to govern the country. 

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim outside Istana Negara
He had been the victim of a political plot and persecution; he had endured loneliness and incarceration; he has suffered on the side of the opposition, tasted what it means to be hounded and denied space to function democratically. All this will motivate him to bring about the reforms that we need as a nation to progress as we should.
Neither Mahathir nor Najib have gone through the bitterness of life as Anwar had to know what it means to live on the other side of the fence. This vast and sobering experience must have equipped him to be a better leader to understand the miseries of the poor, the bitterness of discrimination, the denial of fair treatment, the helplessness of the marginalised. All this will serve him well as a leader of the nation.
Anwar has not been tested in governance and this will be an opportunity to find out if he can be different and make a difference for the country. He deserves this chance. Malaysia deserves this opportunity to recover and regain its stature as a progressive nation.
Let’s remember, “We cannot achieve more in life than what we believe in our heart of hearts we deserve to have.” - James R Ball.
- Mkini
P RAMAKRISHNAN is the former president of Aliran.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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