MUDA’S decision to neither ally itself with Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional is good for the unity government, DAP’s Ong Kian Ming said.

The move could spur PH and PN to work together and  open the door for the unity government to sign a deal with the opposition to support some government bills, the former Bangi MP said 

Ong said that while Muda’s departure from the federal government will cost the latter a two-thirds majority in parliament, it also meant that the government would no longer be held hostage by one or two individuals in parliament over the passage of bills.

Constitutional amendments require the approval of a two-thirds majority in parliament to pass.

“I am referring not just to (Muda president) Syed Saddiq but also to the two MPs from MCA, one MP from MIC, and the MPs from smaller parties in Sabah and Sarawak, who may want to extract certain concessions from the prime minister in exchange for supporting these constitutional amendments,” said Ong in a statement today.

“Instead, the unity government would have to seek broad-based consensus from all parties from within the unity government as well as from the PN coalition on matters such as the delimitation exercise, which begins in 2026,” he said in a statement today.

Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman yesterday said he would sit in the opposition bench to protest the public prosecutor’s decision last week to drop corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Muar lawmaker said his party would be the political “third force”.

On the delimitation exercise, Ong said PAS and to a lesser extent, Bersatu, leaders would not mind seeing an increase in the number of parliamentary seats in Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

The last time such an exercise was undertaken in the the four states was in 1995.

Ong said the unity government now has the option of signing an agreement with the opposition to support certain bills such as the political financing act which would institutionalise equal allocations for all constituencies regardless of which way they vote.

“This could be a gesture of good faith which results in the opposition no longer making any more calls to replace the government through non-electoral means and also sets the pathway towards more substantive reforms which are supported by both sides of the aisle,” he said.

Ong said Muda’s newfound neutrality would put an end questions of loyalty whenever Syed Saddiq criticised the government over its decisions.

Now that the lines have been drawn, DAP would no longer have to support Muda in the manner that it supported Syed Saddiq in Muar in the 2022 general election, Ong said.

“I wish Syed Saddiq and Muda all the best in their efforts to be a third force in Malaysian politics. I hope that he and his colleagues in Muda can play their part in coming up with credible and substantive policies on how to improve government and governing processes at the local, state, and federal levels.” – September 11, 2023.