Muhyddin’s sacking: Where does it lead to?
Best hope of political rehabilitation may be to join forces with Mahathir
Mark Clements, Free Malaysia Today
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today followed the same path out of cabinet as Anwar Ibrahim almost seventeen years ago. Both were removed by the sitting prime minister.
September 2, 1998 saw Anwar dismissed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed, arrested under the Internal Security Act, assaulted in custody and eventually charged in court and convicted for various offences ranging from corruption to engaging in homosexual acts. His dream of supplanting Umno and taking over as prime minister has long since disappeared.
Today, on the other hand, saw the sacking of Muhyddin for breaching the principle of the collective responsibility of cabinet after publicly questioning embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak during a speech delivered at the annual general meeting of Umno’s Cheras division.
Taking Najib to task for failing to clear the air for the ever-growing 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal and also for refusing to directly confront allegations made by Wall Street Journal earlier this month that some US$700 million had flowed into his personal accounts, Muhyiddin was earlier today accused by his successor, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi of having turned against Najib and attempting to engineer a rift within the party.
“How can I approve (of his statement),” Zahid was reported by Sin Chew Daily to have asked. “He should have stood by the leader and the party.”
Himself toeing the Prime Minister’s line, Zahid was reported to have advised that the public should await the outcome of on-going investigations into 1MDB’s affairs.
Those investigations, however, may have suffered a setback in the aftermath of another scandal which suddenly began to brew today after the sudden and unceremonious termination of the services of Attorney- General Abdul Gani Patail was announced.
Gani had been leading a multi-agency task force investigating allegations of impropriety involving 1MDB which became a full-blown scandal after the Wall Street Journal exposed it earlier this month.
Holding office at the pleasure of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong under Article 145(5) of the Federal Constitution, Gani appeared to have been removed with effect from yesterday with Chief Secretary Ali Hamsa saying that it was on account of ill health, a suggestion which Gani has since contradicted.
That aside, Muhiyddin’s own immediate political future appears to be in the balance.
Perceived as an ally of Mahathir, a link up between the two may be his best avenue for political rehabilitation.
