YANG di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is reported to be meeting political party leaders this week, starting yesterday.

Unlike previous summons, the response to this by the public and social media seems lukewarm. After much high drama followed by buzzkills the previous couple of times, the apathy is understandable.

We have, after all, more important things to worry about.

The pandemic has all but curtailed our life, ravaged our livelihoods and given us very little space to manoeuvre, both physically and metaphorically, virtually every aspect of our lives.

With local Covid cases at record highs, and having the unenviable prominence as one of the highest national infection rates, Malaysians would be right to be wary of a distracting shift in the political ground, despite the litany of weaknesses of the present administration in tackling this festering problem.

Although whispers have been rife for months now, albeit on and off, of a new political equation, it does not seem to be the likely case. If anything were to, it should have by now.

Rather, it is more probable that the Palace would like to hear some new ideas from the political parties, or to exhort them to co-operate more closely to solve this multilevel crisis.

It could also be a response to an earlier petition by Pakatan Harapan to re-open Parliament, to either hear their point of view, or to weigh in on the issue.

A unity government, though far-fetched, may actually not be such a bad idea. If the reluctance to hold Parliament really is tied to a fear of a vote of no confidence, or to supply their opponents with an opportunity to make political gains, then a unity government, like one called for by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and echoed by some politicians, especially those from Amanah, DAP, Muda and Pejuang, may be the graceful way out.

It would enable the government to tap into the experience of opposition-run states with their small but significant successes – Selangor in its lauded mass testing and less controversial immunisation registration, Penang in securing vaccines after much brouhaha.

Representation in the cabinet means they have an additional, much needed voice at the upper echelons of decision-making, which saves time, something which is very much a luxury in the fight against Covid-19.

Aside from the direct support for Covid-19 immunisation task force and vaccination, the opposition could also help secure funding for peripheral efforts such as targeted sanitisation, securing locked down sites and purchasing hospital beds, PPE and other equipment.

There would be more incentive for streamlining and less emphasis on fault-finding if they both had blame to share should the programme fail, and less reason for trying to bring down, outdo each other or downplay the other, when they share the same platform.

Efforts parallel to the mainstream pandemic eradication could also benefit from this. Economic kick-starter efforts could benefit from participation from state governments, and supporters of both sides of the political divide.

Businesses would not need to hedge their support with funds and buy-ins for state or federal initiatives, instead they could channel it to a unified strategy that likely would yield better results.

A more muted political atmosphere would also allow for genuine discourse and criticism should be taken more positively, as there is less hidden agenda.

Knee-jerk reactions to political taunts no longer need to be considered, for example, the emphasis on pubs and alcohol with the pandemic, though perhaps less rooted in logic or science, is a key raison d’etre for one of the three main component parties of PN. This negates the need for resources and time to be wasted there, channelled instead on things that matter more.

At this late stage, it may be something only faintly possible, but is definitely worth considering, provided there is sincerity by all parties concerned in wanting to get the country back on track, at the earliest possibility. – June 10, 2021.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.