IN politics, many new developments often come about from reading in-between the lines a statement made by key leaders whether they hail from the ruling government or the opposition.
Often enough, there are bound to be implications from the direct or indirect interpretation of the statement expressed by the political leader.
A direct interpretation can be best illustrated by the views of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar who echoed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s call yesterday (Aug 13) for political reforms vis-à-vis what is regarded as “extending olive branch” to the opposition camp.
Among others, the former Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker concurred with the PM that capping one’s premiership tenure to two terms as well as banning party hopping are the right steps towards effectively combating corrupt political practices.
For the longest time, he justified that these two issues have been identified as root causes for corruption in the country yet no political leader before this has made any attempt to do something about it.
In a just released media statement, Wan Junaidi noted that 10 years is already a long time for a person to rule a country. “It will be dangerous to allow a person to rule longer than that as it will promote kleptocracy. What Muhyiddin did is a testament of his leadership and seriousness to eradicate corruption.”
On the other side of the divide, the PM’s reforms proposals are outrightly rejected by the opposition – UMNO included – as an attempt to solicit support from MPs across the divide at the upcoming confidence motion.
In fact, Perikatan Harapan’s presidential council described the offer, which was conveyed via a live televised address yesterday, as an open confession that the PM has lost the majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.
“This is also the first time a PM with no legitimacy openly offers a bribe on live television in front of all Malaysians,” it said in a statement today, referring to Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution which stipulates that if the PM ceases to have the confidence of the majority of MPs, he should tender his resignation or ask the king to dissolve Parliament.
UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan also urged Muhyiddin to step down, accusing the PM of abusing the country’s constitution for political mileage instead of preserving the integrity of the Prime Minister’s office.
“He has clearly lost his legitimacy after losing the support of the majority and if he doesn’t step down immediately, this will put the Government in a difficult position, exposing it to a multitude of legal disputes and risk of financial loss,” commented Mohamad who o is also Rantau assemblyman.
As the PM’s ‘peace accord-cum-cease-fire’ deal seems to have backfired judging from the outright rejection by the opposition, AMANAH is lodging police reports nationwide today against the PM over offers he made to the opposition in a bid to rebuild his majority.
Among others, the offers made by Muhyiddin included equitable funding for opposition MPs and reforms that have long been lobbied by the opposition such as term limits for the PM, anti-hopping laws, and a more inclusive composition of parliamentary select committees.
The opposition has framed such offer as “bribery” in a desperate attempt to save the Pagoh MP’s Government. – Aug 14, 2021
