Dr M: Why didn’t Ismail Sabri resign like Muhyiddin?

There was no reason for Parliament to be dissolved simply because caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has lost his “majority support”, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

(NST) – In his latest social media posting, the Langkawi member of Parliament questioned Ismail Sabri’s recent decision to dissolve Parliament.

He said if former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, upon losing his majority in the House in 2021, did not dissolve Parliament, Ismail Sabri could have followed the same precedent.

“If Muhyiddin was dropped because he lost his majority and replaced by Ismail Sabri, why didn’t Ismail resign after losing his majority and just promote another Prime Minister?

“There was no need to dissolve Parliament,” he wrote on his short Twitter posting titled “the special inmate”, in reference to convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

After 12 Perikatan Nasional (PN) ministers sent a letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to voice their disagreement with the country having a general election this year, it was widely perceived that Ismail Sabri had lost his majority since the latter was keen on dissolving Parliament this year.

Days before the dissolution, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said Ismail Sabri had lost his majority since the latter’s own cabinet members had gone behind his back to send the letter.

After the dissolution, Ismail Sabri revealed that the reason he decided to ask the king for his consent to the dissolve Parliament was due to the 12 PN ministers’ action, whom he claimed had “planted seeds of division” in the government.

Ismail Sabri said the letter sent to the monarch showed that the 12 ministers had turned their backs on the prime minister, who was appointed by the king, thus eroding the spirit of solidarity in the federal administration.

On Najib, Dr Mahathir said the fact that the former Pekan MP had requested to attend Dewan Rakyat although he has been sent to prison has caused the country to be a laughing stock.

“The world laughs (thinking about) an inmate attending Dewan Rakyat (session) to advise the government on how it should administer the country.

“No wonder there is chaos in this country.

“Stop the special treatment for prisoners who have committed major crimes (while at the same time) a person who stole RM10 was handcuffed and imprisoned immediately.”

On Aug 23, Najib was sent to jail after the Federal Court upheld his guilty verdict on his SRC International corruption case.

The court dismissed Najib’s appeal to overturn the 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine over seven charges in the case involving funds from the former unit of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.