IT was never a stable government to begin with when Muhyiddin Yassin sneaked past Dr Mahathir Mohamad last year with a razor-thin majority of 114 MPs to lay claim to Putrajaya.

But after a year of poor Covid-19 pandemic handling, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) house of cards is beginning to show signs of collapse, said analysts and party insiders.

The signs became ominous for Prime Minister Muhyiddin when two of his ministers – Mohd Redzuan Yusof and Hishammuddin Hussein – issued statements recently distancing themselves from the PN administration on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Redzuan has a history with his partymen and had even chided its information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan over his criticism of founder chairman Dr Mahathir who had left the party to form Pejuang.

Wan Saiful had ticked off Dr Mahathir over claims that certain Bersatu leaders were willing to defect for the right price. He also rubbished Dr Mahathir’s allegations that there were plans to offer him money to rejoin Bersatu.

Wan Saiful said these allegations were meant to attract people to Dr Mahathir’s Pejuang.

Hishammuddin’s position is equally delicate with his party with Umno making it clear that it will no longer be part of the ruling government from August 1.

The comments from Redzuan and Hishammuddin came while the Yang di-Pertuan Agong met leaders of political parties last week and ahead of the Conference of Rulers meeting today over the Covid-19 pandemic and state of emergency in the country.

“It’s unusual to see two ministers, Redzuan and Hishammuddin, issue statements distancing themselves from Muhyiddin’s cabinet on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Ilham Centre director Hisommudin Bakar, a day after the number of new infections dipped below the 5,000-mark on Monday.

“While their statements were not unexpected following the King’s decision to meet with heads of political parties last week, it has shown up the frays within the government,” said the pollster.

After keeping silent for a long time, Redzuan had told Malaysiakini last week that he had been left out of National Security Council meetings for over a month, before Muhyiddin announced the total lockdown on June 1.

Redzuan’s statement was quickly followed by Hishammuddin’s criticism of his government’s handling of the pandemic, which many saw as an attempt by the foreign minister to distance himself from the way the crisis was being managed.

“It shows a panic situation plus a lack of coordination within the government today,” said Hisommudin, who served as a special officer to former Pakatan Harapan (PH) minister Saifuddin Nasution in 2019.

Redzuan and Hishammuddin’s unusual statements were not the first, said Hisommudin.

The first was from PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who wrote from Institut Jantung Negara, where he had been recuperating.

Hadi had said there were attempts to topple PN after the King’s meetings with Muhyiddin and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Although Anwar denied that the meeting discussed any changes in government, it nevertheless provided sufficient fodder for rumours that Hishammuddin would be the next prime minister.

Hisommudin said the chaos, following the King’s meetings, only confirms the anxiety felt by PN leaders ahead of the Conference of Rulers meeting today.

“I feel that Redzuan and Hishammuddin are attempting to distance themselves from a government that is increasingly unpopular on the ground,” said Hisommudin.

Opening and closing

The King’s meetings with heads of political parties is akin to an open invitation for new ideas, said Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Dr Mazlan Ali.

“The King is aware of calls to end the state of emergency and reopening of Parliament and decided to seek ideas from other political party leaders,” said Mazlan, who teaches political science in UTM.

Mazlan said the royalty knows of the increasing Covid-19 infections since the emergency order was given in January and how government agencies appear to be in conflict.

Referring to the National Security Council-Ministry of International Trade and Industry gaffe last month, Mazlan said the King has given room to other political leaders to contribute whether in the form of a unity government or restarting the National Operations Council (NOC) or Mageran as suggested by Dr Mahathir.

“It is this royal opening that has influenced Redzuan and Hishammuddin to speak up now,” said Mazlan.

But while the door has opened up the possibility of a unity government, a leader from PH said his party will not support Muhyiddin’s government with a confidence and supply agreement (CSA).

Prior to Budget 2021, PH had offered PN a CSA in October last year to avoid a state of emergency. PN, however, did not take up the offer and instead went for a state of emergency two months later.

“The CSA option is now out of the question. The majority of MPs in my party are not in favour of a CSA as they don’t feel the government should be allowed to continue mismanaging the pandemic and the economy,” said the insider.

Frank Underwood once said, “Friends make the worst enemies”, on the political hit series “House of Cards”.

Muhyiddin will have to take a closer look at this after today. – June 16, 2021.