A NEWS PORTAL has envisaged the likelihood of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gearing up to forge a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with PAS should DAP decide not to support UMNO’s quest to seek royal pardon for incarcerated ex-premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The damning scenario which may see the return of yet another minority Malay government – the third within three years – may happen before Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah step down in late January next year, according to New Media Hit.
“Recall that the previous administration of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob forged CSA in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the then Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and thereby avoided vote of no confidence in Parliament,” argued writer Joe Fernandez.
“The present Anwar government needs fallback option if DAP embarks on an exit strategy … under such circumstances, the PM may be ready for CSA with PAS in line with the Agong’s decree on unity government. The Islamic State remains an afterthought.”
However, the New Media Hit caveated its speculation by stressing that “this is only a worst-case scenario if push comes to shove”, hence DAP may not pull out immediately from the Anwar government over Najib’s royal pardon issue whether granted in the immediate future or delayed until the Pardons Board meets on Aug 23, 2026.
As it is, Najib’s royal pardon has become a thorny issue for DAP where its national leadership is seen to be ‘over-compromising’ on its ‘big brother’ position in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition by being accorded only four Cabinet positions despite having secured the second highest number of seats in the 15th General Election (GE15) with 40 (behind PAS’ 49).
For comparison among major peninsular parties, PKR won 31 seats in GE15, followed by UMNO (26) and Amanah (eight).
At present, non-Malay lawmakers make up the majority in Anwar’s unity government although the Cabinet remains majority Malay. This is in contrast to Malay lawmakers making up the majority in the Opposition with 72 Malay. Additionally, the Opposition boasts two Orang Asal MPs from Sabah and Sarawak.
Albeit being minority, the Malay government existed before GE15 on Nov 19 last year under two ‘backdoor’ PMs vis-à-vis Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (March 1, 2020 to Aug 16, 2021) and Ismail Sabri (Aug 21, 2021 to Nov 19, 2022).
Although PAS is seemingly the best choice to be DAP’s replacement, New Media Hit reckoned that PAS will likely face obstacles even if Anwar is ready to forge CSA with the party.
“Already, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has several investigation papers on PAS leaders. PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, based on many media statements on bribery and corruption during GE15, would probably lose the Marang parliamentary seat,” contended the news portal.
“It’s not clear whether CSA would be the magical wand which can wish away PAS’ mounting legal problems. PAS leaders may have their parliamentary seats vacated by the speaker on the grounds that they violated their oath of office.”
Whatever said and speculated, “politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best” (Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898). – April 18, 2023
Main pic credit: Malaysiakini
