Letter to editor
THE New Year brings new hope to each of us. Just as 2023 has come and gone, leaving not a word when it left us, 2024 has started to creep in quietly.
The year 2024 is installed today a la the King of the Year to reign through the next 12 months. His Majesty King 2024 has lots of promises and disappointments, hopes and disillusionment to unpack for his subjects. He is capable of bringing both peace and prosperity as well as poverty and war to the people.
For some politicians, especially those who are hopeful of the Dubai Move to topple the unity government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX), this may turn out to be another great disappointment for them.
Truth be told that the people are already fed up with one backdoor government too many. Instead of waiting for the next four years before going to the polls again by end-2027, these politicians are attempting to repeat their treacherous act again after having brought down the government once previously in February 2020.
For them, the change in government is like playing musical chair.
From the Sheraton Move to London Move and now the infamous Dubai Move, nobody knows for sure what the next move will be. Some have suggested that it would best be the Kajang Move or the Sungai Buloh Move.
If we were to allow all these half-baked “Moves” to be executed at will, Malaysians would see a new government and a new Prime Minister (PM) being cherry-picked to lead the country every one or two years. Do we deserve that?
For the civil servants, it would mean having to work with a new set of bosses but the investor fraternity has no qualm to shun away from Malaysia as they can only see political instability.
The YDPA is wiser you think
It is almost certain that the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah is unlikely to consent to all the manoeuvring by the people behind the plot even with his five-year tenure ending come end-January.
And the reasons are obvious.
Firstly, the unity government was Sultan Abdullah’s own proposal to both Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman and Anwar as the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman.
The YDPA wanted Muhyiddin to take on the subordinate role and work closer with the obvious winner PH to form the unity government.
But Muhyiddin had outrightly rejected Sultan Abdullah’s proposal, leading to the final decision of allowing Anwar to form the unity government. After all, Anwar’s coalition comprising Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) had won the biggest number of seats.
Secondly, Sultan Abdullah understands the sentiments of the people that they do not want to have a change of government every one or two years. This was clearly expressed by the Pahang ruler himself during the official opening of the parliamentary session following the establishment of the unity government.
However, some people chose not to listen to him. So, why would His Majesty now listen to these same people?
Thirdly, if Sultan Abdullah gives his royal consent to the Dubai Move, one can only see two possibilities.
This would strain the relationship between him and Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar. After all, it is now less than a month to go before Sultan Ibrahim is sworn in as the new Agong..
There is no reason for Sultan Abdullah to appoint a new PM just before he leaves the National Palace.
The other possibility is that if Sultan Abdullah consents to another change of government, the world will be commenting about the political instability in Malaysia during the good Sultan’s tenure. The Sultan has a lot more wisdom than to allow things to get out of hand just because some self-seeking politicians are trying to engineer another change of government.
Anyone with some common sense will be able to guess Sultan Abdullah’s decision: he would advise these plotters to return to parliament and contribute their ideas to PMX on how to bring the country back together again after the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) corruption scandal which shocked the world.
Under the rule of’ ‘quiet King 2024’, Malaysians will instead see some interesting development with PMX now fully swinging his axe on the rotten tree trunk. He will undoubtedly see a fight back by his defectors but the million-dollar question is would tney win when the Sultan Ibrahim becomes the next Agong?
One has to sit tight, open a can of Coke and a packet of popcorns while waiting for the next change which ‘King 2024’ has decreed – it will be one with thunder and lightning in the court room battles. – Jan 1, 2024
Stephen Ng
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
New pic credit: AstroSage
