THIS may sound like wishful thinking but truly, wouldn’t life be very much calmer and less mentally-torturing for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri if he distances himself – or even ditches once and for all– the self-interest UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi from his life?
In fact, his popularity may skyrocket to the extent that his administration may even retain the much needed slim majority to form the next government in the aftermath of the 15th General Election (GE15) – this time via a deserving ‘front door’ route.
It can be imagined that the Bera MP was given a tongue lashing by for failing to convey UMNO’s ‘mandate’ of a snap poll when he chanced upon an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at Istana Negara on Thursday (Oct 6) evening.
In fact, the Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin had confirmed with Malaysiakini that the PM’s audience with the King was merely a pre-Cabinet briefing as it was intended to be.
It is very likely that the question mark on the dissolution of Parliament will continue to hang like the sword of Damocles over UMNO’s head, especially among its ‘court cluster’ top brass – Zahid himself may not be so lucky the next time – for the immediate term.
This is more likely so as Sultan Abdullah – who possesses an unenviable track record of having once rejected the motion by Ismail Sabri’s predecessor Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to declare a state of emergency in October 2020 – is likely to be London-bound from tonight (Oct 9) for the week to witness the launching of the Malaysia-backed Battersea Power Station project.
While speculation is rife among the UMNO party faction loyal to Zahid that the King has already ‘consented’ the PM to call for election as he deems fit, Ismail Sabri has remained steadfast by his non-committal stance – nobody, not even those in his inner circle are aware of what he has up his sleeves.
While it remains to be seen if the recently tabled Budget 2023 “is purely a waste of time” as claimed by UMNO loyalists, Ismail Sabri is fully aware of how ‘suicidal’ it is to his political survival should the Agong objected/rejected his proposal for the Parliament to be dissolved. He only has a bullet in his pistol and he could ill-afford to screw it up.
As prominent lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla put it, the consequence is dire as the PM “must resign by convention” should the Agong say no to him.
“I believe that the consent to have a general election (soon) is the last thing on the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s mind,” Haniff told political portal The Third Force in an interview. “If (the request) is refused, then, there is a convention that requires him (Ismail Sabri) to resign as PM.”
“Now, whether or not he resigns as PM is a matter only Ismail Sabri can answer because there was a bad example set around two years back when Muhyiddin Yassin refused to resign when his first application for Emergency was rejected,” added Haniff.
Haniff further opined that the Agong is well-aware that he might have to repeat the same process of appointing a new PM for the third time in a single parliamentary term.
“Surely the Agong will think, ‘don’t tell me I have to be held responsible for the political gluttony of political leaders, for the third time in the same 14th parliamentary term’?” – Oct 9, 2022
Main photo credit: The Star
