By P Gunasegaram
AS the first stage of the political turmoil – the appointment of a prime minister – passes for the moment, the question of whether the new government can be maintained given possible votes of no confidence will be the second stage.
The third stage of the ongoing drama will be to assuage and reassure the public whose nerves have been worn raw by the developments of the last two weeks. The fourth will be the thorny and possibly deal-breaking issue of Cabinet appointments.
The fifth and perhaps most difficult final stage is to run a clean, efficient government which at every stage takes into account the genuine and fair interests of all Malaysians above anything else.
Let’s look at every stage and what our new PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should be doing. The first stage of the appointment of the new PM is already past and went very smoothly.
Although some may question the appointment, it should be noted that it was done entirely according to the Federal Constitution which permits the King to appoint someone who is likely to command the confidence of the majority in Parliament. On hindsight, the choice seems to be wise.
It does indeed seem that Muhyiddin commands the numbers and he should be brave enough to show that he has the numbers at the earliest possible instance, which is the coming Parliament session on March 9.
Any move to delay this session of Parliament and/or to prematurely remove the well-respected speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof is to needlessly prolong the process of governing and to increase the period of uncertainty.
By keeping to the schedule, thereby demonstrating he has the majority in Parliament, Muhyiddin increases the confidence of the public in his government and crushes any suspicion that he does not hold the majority.
If he announces this as soon as possible, it will calm volatility sooner as part of his overall moves to rebuild public confidence and soothe worn nerves. In his first speech as PM, he had announced that he is a prime minister for everyone. He should show this by word and deed in the coming months.
We move to the fourth and the perilously delicate and difficult stage of his transition into leadership – the composition of the Cabinet. This is tricky, almost like defusing a live landmine – if anyone of his major backers among Umno, Bersatu, PAS or GPS withdraws support, the government implodes.
A vote of no confidence can be tabled at any time and under the Constitution, a vote of no confidence means the PM and his Cabinet must step down. Also, in that case, the PM can advise the King to dissolve Parliament, which means fresh elections.
At the outset, the new PM should set some conditions – any Cabinet appointment must not have criminal court cases and that the government cannot withdraw cases already in court. Next, the person must be competent and enjoy public confidence.
If he makes the mistake of allowing those with criminal cases pending to enter the Cabinet, then public confidence in him will have evaporated even before he starts, disappearing like morning dew under the heat of the Malaysian sun. At some point of time, and ultimately at the polls, he and/or his party will pay for public displeasure.
If there are insufficient technocrats among the politicians, then Muhyiddin should consider bringing in people from outside the political services such as civil servants, and GLC and private sector CEOs who have a proven record of not only making policy decisions but implementing them without fear or favour over ingrained obstacles and opposition.
Even if he chooses competent people and those of integrity as he has publicly said, very difficult questions will still emerge. Who will be the deputy PM? Will it be one deputy or more than one? Who is the designated successor, especially given that Muhyiddin is a pancreatic cancer survivor?
Muhyiddin should clearly and unambiguously articulate his position with respect to those in Umno who are involved in court cases such as former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak of 1MDB fame, former deputy PM and current Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his multiple charges, and others such as former FT minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor.
He must remember that he was removed as deputy PM and deputy president of Umno by Najib when he volubly protested against 1MDB. To have such people in his Cabinet would be preposterous and a betrayal of everything he fought for.
And then comes the final part, the most difficult and perhaps the most important – running the government for the people even though it may not have been of the people and by the people before.
He needs to ensure he keeps his hands clean and does not fall into the easy temptation of enriching himself, his family and his cronies to the detriment of the country and people as others before him had done.
If he does these things, he will indeed have had a good start to perhaps the most difficult position in the country and blazed a trail for others to follow. If he does not, like others before him, he would have failed in his public duty.
(P Gunasegaram says in good times and tough times – especially tough times – we must live in hope.)
