Mahathir regains majority support in parliament
Of course, that is unless His Majesty the Agong feels parliament should be dissolved and a snap general election be held just to teach Pakatan Harapan not to play around with democracy and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. If not, then Malaysians will need to endure Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan for at least another three years or so.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Whether Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad planned for this to happen or circumstances forced it to happen is not clear, but events have turned out in Mahathir’s favour.
When Mahathir pulled his party, PPBM, out of the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition and he tendered his resignation as Prime Minister, the government technically collapsed. The reason Mahathir did this was to retaliate against the demands from DAP, Amanah and the Anwar Ibrahim faction in PKR that Mahathir resign and hand power to Anwar Ibrahim now (not in May 2020).
No one expected Mahathir to retaliate in this manner because such a move is considered mutual/mutually assured destruction or MAD. But Mahathir is just so fed up with the pressure to “stick to the agreement” and make way for Anwar that he decided to just throw in the towel and walk away.
Pakatan Harapan never expected Mahathir to strike back by resigning and by pulling his party out of the government
Pakatan Harapan was shocked, even those in his own party. The alternative proposition of a so-called “unity government” is out of the question because Mahathir will need to choose between Muafakat Nasional (Umno-PAS) and DAP. He cannot get both to agree to a unity government. So it is either a pro-DAP government or an anti-DAP government (or a pro- Muafakat Nasional government versus an anti-Muafakat Nasional government if you wish to look at it that way).
In essence, Malaysia would be split into three camps. And all three camps would not be able to touch the minimum 112 MPs required to form a government. And there is no way all three camps would merge into one or at least two camps merge into one.
In short, His Majesty the Agong would need to dissolve parliament to make way for GE15.
Will His Majesty do the right thing and dissolve parliament?
This sent Pakatan Harapan into a panic because there was little chance they could repeat the GE14 success. Voters are just fed up with Pakatan Harapan and will not want to give them a second term. Hence Pakatan Harapan has to avoid a new general election from being held.
So now all factions in Pakatan Harapan have got together and have reconciled. They want to avoid the dissolution of parliament and for GE15 to be called. So all factions are prepared to bury their differences and throw their unanimous support behind Mahathir.
So, back to where we all started. Pakatan Harapan is back in Putrajaya and Barisan Nasional-Muafakat Nasional will remain in the opposition. Mahathir will get sworn in as PM8 and there will be no expiry date or two-year deadline for him to resign and hand power to Anwar Ibrahim.
As Anwar Ibrahim said (masin mulut dia) he will not be PM8 but PM9. See what the fear of the dissolution of parliament and a snap general election can do to Pakatan Harapan? It brought the fear of God into their hearts and forced them to unite and rally behind Mahathir and allow him to stay on as prime minister for as long as he likes.
Of course, that is unless His Majesty the Agong feels parliament should be dissolved and a snap general election be held just to teach Pakatan Harapan not to play around with democracy and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. If not, then Malaysians will need to endure Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan for at least another three years or so.
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PH leaders reach consensus, will reveal it tomorrow
(FMT) – Pakatan Harapan coalition partners have reached a consensus on their position following the political crisis sparked by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as prime minister, but will only announce it tomorrow.
Most of the top PH leaders, including PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng and Amanah’s Mujahid Yusof Rawa avoided the press and left hurriedly after a meeting at the PKR headquarters here tonight.
Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub told reporters that PH had come to a decision, but did not give details.
“We made a decision and will announce it tomorrow. We have arrived at a consensus,” he said.
On the coalition’s choice for prime minister, Salahuddin said it would be revealed tomorrow.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah started meeting each of the 222 MPs individually from this afternoon to determine who they want as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Amanah communications director Khalid Samad described the meeting as a “happy” one.
On whether fresh elections – which Umno and PAS are pushing for – were discussed, Khalid said it was not.
“Why should we waste money on fresh polls when we can get a clear (majority)?” he asked.
Earlier today, Barisan Nasional and PAS leaders called for Parliament to be dissolved to elect a new government following their audience with the Agong.
Asked if PH was confident of a majority, Khalid said “God willing” though he ruled out a two-thirds majority. He said they had a “sufficient” majority.
This was the first PH presidential council meeting since PPBM quit the coalition and Mahathir resigned as prime minister.
