PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, despite a tumultuous past few days, has withstood attacks and it has only strengthened his resolve to stay on.

In fact, the Anwar Ibrahim debacle has only motivated him, as he overcomes some of his weak points and renegotiates new terms with his crucial Umno supporters.

Once this is complete, he will be in an unassailable position and neither Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, promoted as a compromise candidate, or Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who still harbours hopes of becoming premier for a record third time, will be a threat to the incumbent prime minister.

Anwar’s threat has fizzled out and, if the status quo prevails, all the no confidence votes in the November parliamentary sitting are not going to oust the prime minister.

One of the aces he has up his sleeve is that the 2021 budget is going to be presented in November and there will be little time left as the new budget takes effect from January 2021.

A new government will have to come up with a new budget and it is a painstaking task given the complex socio-economic situation right now.

The government could come to a standstill, as it did in the US some time ago.

Malaysians would want to avoid all these unnecessary problems, especially during the present Covid-19 pandemic and economic slowdown.

The government has put in a lot of work for the 2021 budget, with inputs from various quarters in the private and public sectors as it is a special budget for an extraordinary period.

The government has done well, compared to many other countries, in protecting the people from the Covid-19 scourge and coping with the resulting economic slowdown, especially unemployment and lay-offs.

These are important matters for the wellbeing of the people, especially the majority B40 group, and should not be interrupted by political instability and creating a new government when there is simply no need.

What is a new government going to do that the present government is not doing?

Political and legal reforms can wait.

The massive stimulus packages have almost bankrupted the treasury, so what new stimulus packages and incentives can a new government provide or promise?

Changing a government simply for the sake of it is foolish.

Socio-economic incentives and measures are more important than politics at the present time to the people but with no money can anything be achieved by a new government.

The withdrawal of the goods and services tax and poor returns by the corporate sector this year will mean reduced revenue for the government.

The Pakatan Harapan government, or rather its finance minister Lim Guan Eng, was known to be stingy with allocations and expenditures, and could not have devised a large stimulus package like that of Muhyiddin, which have somewhat eased the burden of the people.

Anwar’s purported deal with some Umno leaders whereby they will be freed from charges of corruption should he come to power was totally wrong and short-sighted.

What will the world think of Malaysia’s judicial system if the deal went through?

This could have irretrievably harmed Malaysia’s image with the international community.

The PH leaders should not undo what they did in the first place by charging the Umno leaders with corruption.

Now Anwar appears to be in more trouble as Bukit Aman is re-examining some of his previous charge sheets.

Tengku Razaleigh has been suddenly been thrust into the spotlight as a compromise candidate should Muhyiddin be forced to leave office.

Tengku Razaleigh – who could rely on a wide array of parties and leaders, including royalty – may be a greater threat to the prime minister in the present situation than either Anwar or Dr Mahathir.

However, this may not happen as Muhyiddin, according to reports, is scheduled to meet with disgruntled Umno leaders and work out a win-win solution, as opposed to Anwar’s deal.

When Parliament is reconvened in November, there will be calls for a no-confidence vote but the prime minister is going to stay put and, health permitting, finish his term until GE15.

All the prime minister wannabes will be disappointed.

* V. Thomas 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.