A UNITY government is not viable in Malaysia where votes are won on the strength of the party instead of the individual politician, said Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The Umno advisory council chairman said the Malaysian parliament, which is based on the United Kingdom’s Westminster system, does not allow individual politiciansto thrive.

“I am open to it but it is very difficult without party politics. The basis of our parliamentary democracy is party politics,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The Gua Musang lawmaker was commenting former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call to set aside party politics to form a unity government to combat the Covid-19 epidemic and repair the economy.

Tengku Razaleigh, who is popularly known as Ku Li, said individual politics is not possible as it lacks the support of party grassroots and machinery.

“His (Dr Mahathir) idea of unity government is individual support. But you move the party machine as a party. The party determines the programmes you have for the people.

“If the individual is disorganised, they will find it difficult to marshal support from people. You won’t get the kind of support you necessarily get when things are organised by a party,” he said.

He said the concept is foreign to the political parties which will not support it “not even in a pandemic”.

As for himself, Tengku Razaleigh said it is up to Umno to decide for him as he is very much a party man.

“I am a member of Umno, (and whether or not I support the idea) depends on if Umno supports that kind of thing,” he said.

The 11-term lawmaker said none of the parties at the present time could claim enough support to form a strong government, including Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“You look at Anwar’s party – he does not have (full support). Without DAP, Anwar is dead.

“It is the same with Muhyiddin and his party. He will not have support if not for us and PAS.”

Dr Mahathir has reportedly met with Tengku Razaleigh, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and Perikatan Nasional minister Dr Zulkifli Mohamad to discuss forming a unity government.

Muhyiddin is said to have sought the advice of the Bersatu supreme council on whether he should meet with Dr Mahathir, nine months after the two fell out in a bitter power struggle that ended with Muhyiddin being appointed prime minister by the Agong. 

The two leaders clashed after Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan in February, leading to the collapse of the 22-month-old government.

Muhyiddin now leads the PN federal government with Barisan Nasional and PAS. The coalition has the support of parties, including independents, based in Sarawak and Sabah.

After they were sacked from Bersatu, Dr Mahathir and his followers formed a new party, Pejuang, which is awaiting registration approval from the Registrar of Societies.

The unity government idea was raised by Dr Mahathir after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong urged politicians to concentrate efforts on fighting Covid-19 and its impact on the economy.

The king had advised MPs to vote for Budget 2021 to help the people badly affected by the pandemic.

This was after the ruler rejected the prime minister’s proposal to declare a state of emergency. – November 18, 2020.