PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faces a tough time ahead even though his Perikatan Nasional government was victorious in pushing through a new Dewan Rakyat speaker today, analysts said.

Today’s proceedings show that the four-month old PN government will find it challenging to pass important laws, such as the national budget and the Covid-19 bill,

The vote to replace speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof revealed that Muhyiddin commands the support of only 113 MPs in the 222-seat lower house – just one vote above the threshold his government needs to hold federal power.

The removal of the speaker elected by Pakatan Harapan may protect the prime minister against a no-confidence motion being brought up in parliament, but it does not guarantee that the laws PN needs to govern effectively will be passed.

In parliamentary sessions to come, Muhyiddin will have to ensure the full attendance of the PN MPs, said political scientist Dr Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

“All the ministers have to be present and he has to ensure that none of the MPs will suddenly get sick or cannot attend parliament because otherwise the laws can’t be passed.

“He won this round but the road ahead is filled with twists and turns.”

“The fact that he still does not have good support in parliament despite all the sweet deals he’s offered the MPs shows that PN is unstable.”

Muhyiddin has been accused of using plum posts in government-linked companies and agencies to buy support for PN which was formed through defections from the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

PH won federal power in the 2018 general election but was brought down when Muhyiddin, who was home minister, defected along with about 40 MPs.

Muhyiddin then formed PN with PH’s electoral rivals Umno and PAS, and Sarawakian pact GPS.

Today was the first test of support for his administration after his ally-turned-nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed that Muhyiddin lacked the numbers to form the government.

Muhyiddin was able to scrape together 111 votes to remove Ariff as speaker while Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming made another vote to remove him unnecessary by volunteering his resignation.

The 109 MPs in the opposition, nicknamed “Pakatan Plus”, voted no to Ariff’s removal.

Two PN-linked MPs did not vote. Maximus Ongkili (Kota Marudu-PBS) was absent due to health problems while Rashid Hasnon (Batu Pahat-Bersatu) abstained as he was the acting speaker.

Today’s events said also revealed that the opposition bloc remained united despite recent talk of its breaking up, political scientist Prof James Chin said.

Ex-PH prime minister Dr Mahathir appeared to be working with PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim, despite their recent disagreements.

“Going forward, Muhyiddin may want to test his support again by pushing through another bill,” said Chin, who heads University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute.

“Muhyiddin can take comfort in the fact that a vote of no confidence won’t come up because Malaysia’s parliamentary system requires that the speaker approve of it.

“But as the numbers on both sides are solid it means that for all bills, especially the budget, he must make sure that everyone attends.”

UTM’s Mazlan said the unity shown by Pakatan Plus today signals that the coalition and its allies are serious about wresting back power.

“This can be done by getting more MPs on its side so that it can defeat the national budget. If PH can do that, PN will be unable to govern.” – July 13, 2020.