AFTER a week of political turmoil, Malaysia finally has a new prime minister. Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the eighth prime minister on Sunday, after his appointment by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. His appointment is seen by many as a betrayal of the nation’s democratic values, and his administration dubbed by Malaysians as a “backdoor” government.

Despite the criticism, Muhyiddin’s appointment is a new dawn for a broken Malaysia. His government faces enormous challenges, primarily political instability, a weakened economy and the Covid-19 outbreak. Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to resign resulted in a power vacuum and escalated the power struggle – one that has existed for well over a year between him and Anwar Ibrahim due to a trust deficit between the two and the absence of a succession plan. Muhyiddin emerged as the unexpected winner of the power struggle. However, it is naive to say the political brawl is over.

Dr Mahathir claims he has 114 MPs backing him as prime minister. Hence, there is great scepticism as to whether Muhyiddin commands majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, amid MPs’ constantly shifting allegiance between Muhyiddin, Dr Mahathir and Anwar. Muhyiddin’s reign as prime minister could be short-lived if he loses a vote of no confidence in Parliament once it sits.

This week is crucial for Muhyiddin. He must realise that he may have won the battle, but the war is far from over.

In the event that he survives a no-confidence vote, he will be leading the weakest government (in terms of parliamentary seats) in Malaysia’s history. Therefore, if he is to succeed as prime minister, he will need a strong cabinet; one that is not constructed on political favours or seniority, but a line-up that is merit-based, comprising individuals who are clean, credible and capable. This has already been promised by him, echoed by Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa and the party’s Johor treasurer, Md Jais Sarday.

There should be no room for political figures who are facing charges in court, and they include Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Najib Razak, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Bung Moktar Radin, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and Ahmad Maslan. The cabinet is in dire need of members who will unite Malaysians in a divisive period of our history. The individuals who should be in the cabinet include Takiyuddin Hassan, Mustapa Mohamed, Idris Jusoh, Mohamad Hasan and Khairy Jamaluddin. They will be crucial assets to the prime minister with their vast knowledge, experience and credentials, uniting the people and steering the country in the right direction, socially and economically.

Top government appointments, including the attorney-general, too, must be merit-based, and not from among individuals from any political party. The attorney-general is crucial to ensure the rule of law is upheld. There should be no repeat of Mohamed Apandi Ali, who refused to press charges against then prime minister Najib, or Tommy Thomas, who dropped all corruption charges against then finance minister Lim Guan Eng. The government must reform the process of appointing the attorney-general. To avoid history repeating itself, the appointment should be made by Parliament, not the Agong on the advice of the prime minister. However, this will require an amendment to Article 145 of the federal constitution, which, I believe, if tabled in Parliament, will attain the two-thirds support required.

Another challenge for the new prime minister is the economy. Malaysia’s economy grew 3.6% in the last quarter of 2019, the slowest growth since the third quarter of 2009. The situation has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 outbreak, which is predicted to cost the economy RM5.9 billion. The recent (perhaps, still ongoing) political crisis just aggravated the country’s economic struggle. The Edge Malaysia estimated that an astronomical RM43 billion was lost overnight as investors pulled out of the market due to the political uncertainty. Yesterday, the FBM KLCI opened at 1,459.81, the lowest since November 2011. Bursa Malaysia plummeted 41.66 points over the course of the week due to the turmoil.

Muhyiddin, in his first address to the nation, stressed that his administration will focus on three main issues: the economy, healthcare and education. In his favour, Dr Mahathir had announced an economic stimulus package to alleviate the impact of Covid-19 on the domestic economy. The current state of the Malaysian economy can be largely blamed on PKR renegade Mohamed Azmin Ali as he was the economic affairs minister, and he certainly should not remain in the portfolio. The prime minister needs to secure economic and political stability to allow the economy to recover. He also needs experienced and capable individuals to take up the economic affairs and finance portfolios – and one of them should certainly be Mustapa.

The government should also be more proactive in helping the B40 group. Pakatan Harapan won the 2018 elections on a socialist manifesto, but ran the nation with a neo-liberal approach. Dr Mahathir was quoted time and again blaming the poor for their socio-economic misfortune. In December 2018, during a speech to Bersatu youth, he was reported by Free Malaysia Today as telling Malays: “Blame yourself for being poor.”

Muhyiddin must take a different economic approach, and not be disconnected from the real struggles of the people. Policies must be needs-based, not race-based. Malays must realise that the success of the community is not measured by the number of billionaires or millionaires among them. Rather, it should be the number of Malays who are economically independent, able to feed their families and live comfortable lives. Another fact that Malays need to come to terms with is that the Malay struggle is not a zero-sum game. Helping poor Malays and Bumiputeras does not equate to the government ignoring the struggles of poor Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other Malaysians. The current race-based policies are only making rich Malays richer, and poor Malaysians of all races poorer. It is increasing income inequality and the exploitation of the poor. Therefore, the prime minister must implement affirmative action to help the B40.

The government must shift some focus to help gig workers. There are now an estimated 250,000 Malaysians with such jobs. In a survey by think-tank The Centre, the gig economy is the main source of income for 54% of its workers. Of these workers, 75% said their gig income is important, and 86% said they work their gig jobs for five days or more a week Worryingly, many of them do not have social protection, with 59% saying they do not have emergency or retirement savings, 75% without unemployment insurance, 57% lacking personal healthcare insurance and 37% going without employment injury insurance. And, 22% lack any form of the five protections mentioned. Muhyiddin’s government needs to provide social protection to this group of workers, of whom almost 70% are youth.

Malaysia is a nation more divided than ever. Many say Muhyiddin is a renegade of democracy. However, do not forget that at a time when he had everything to lose, he stood by his principles, and he suffered the biggest consequence of fighting against Najib’s allegedly kleptocratic regime. Today, he stands as our prime minister. The challenge of uniting the nation rests on his shoulders and his soon-to-be-appointed cabinet.

Muhyiddin must learn from the mistakes of Dr Mahathir’s increasingly unpopular government and Najib’s regime. Do not be disconnected from the people, understand Malaysians’ struggles, and as the Malay saying goes, “berpijak di bumi yang nyata”. – March 3, 2020.

* Syed Rifqi Najmuddin S.A.A. reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.