Will Mahathir attend parliament on 18th May?
It would be most interesting to see what Mahathir does on 18th May 2020. One way out would be to call in sick and get “medical leave” on that day. Then no one can say anything. However, there will still be some who will say the so-called sick leave is a red herring to avoid the embarrassment of sitting on the “wrong” side of the aisle on 18th May.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be the last person out of 222 members of parliament who should violate the lockdown or restricted movement ruling and leave home to attend the parliament sitting on 18th May 2020.
But then, can he afford not attending the parliament sitting of 18th May 2020? What message will he be sending or how will it be interpreted if he is seen as “boycotting” parliament?
He can argue that this is not a boycott but merely a precaution due to his “delicate” age, to avoid any untoward happening, but people will interpret it the way it pleases them to interpret it and any reason Mahathir offers, plausible or otherwise, will be seen merely as an excuse.
Yes, Mahathir is pinned between a rock and a hard place.
What will Mahathir do on 18th May 2020?
However, if he decides to leave his fate to Allah and risk leaving home to attend the parliament sitting on 18th May 2020, which side of the aisle will he be sitting?
Since PPBM or Parti Pribumi Bersatu is part of the Perikatan Nasional government — together with the Muafakat Nasional of Umno and PAS — and PPBM’s Muhyiddin Yassin is the prime minister, should Mahathir not sit on the government side of the aisle?
Mahathir, however, made it very clear he will never go to bed with the racist Umno thieves and robbers and the religious extremist PAS radicals. That means he will have to cross over to the other side of the aisle and sit with the opposition Pakatan Harapan.
On 18th May 2020 Mahathir will tell the world if Muhyiddin is the “legitimate” prime minister of Malaysia or a “backdoor” PM
Again, how will that be interpreted? Will it be seen as he is abandoning his own party, PPBM? In that case he will be telling Malaysians that there are two PPBMs. One PPBM is with Pakatan Harapan and another PPBM is with Perikatan Nasional.
In short, PPBM is split into two, Team A and Team B.
This 18th May 2020 parliament sitting is actually a boobytrap for Mahathir. If he attends the sitting he is doomed and if he does not attend the sitting he is also doomed. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, as they would say.
Will Mahathir sit with Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional?
It would be most interesting to see what Mahathir does on 18th May 2020. One way out would be to call in sick and get “medical leave” on that day. Then no one can say anything. However, there will still be some who will say the so-called sick leave is a red herring to avoid the embarrassment of sitting on the “wrong” side of the aisle on 18th May.
Either way you cannot win. Buat, salah, tak buat pun, salah.
It is like the RM250 billion Covid-19 stimulus package. Don’t give they whack you for not helping. Give RM250 billion they whack you for not giving enough. Increase the RM250 billion to RM500 billion and they whack you for not getting parliament approval first. Bring it to parliament and they whack you for not giving enough time to debate the stimulus package. Hold parliament for one month and they whack you for the conspiracy to kill all the MPs by getting them infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.
