UMNO’s love-hate relationship with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government hit another milestone last week, with the “official” withdrawal of support from the Supreme Council, on behalf of Umno, for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.

This political gamble, after months of teasing withdrawal, comes at the worst point of the worst arc the pandemic has coughed up for Malaysians so far.

What should have been a move at least as exciting as the Sheraton one was met with a less than lukewarm response. Indeed, Malaysians are sick and tired of politics, and have many more pressing things to worry about than who will be heading the country next week.

With suicide rates hitting the thousands by some estimates, and even optimistic numbers placing small- and medium-sized enterprises closures at 35,000, white flag campaigns are at full swing to rescue Malaysians from literal starvation.

And these are by people who are themselves suffering from flip flop decisions, loss of business income, lockdowns, the skyrocketing Covid-19 cases and deaths, and hospitals being filled to near breaking point, despite “measures” taken.

Juxtapose that against the self-centred power tussle that’s happening in Putrajaya. The disconnect between the politicians’ ambitions and the realities plaguing the rakyat becomes cruelly apparent.  

Perhaps what’s worse is the neither-here-nor-there stance taken.

By attacking PN and the PM, Umno hopes to be both spared the wrath of the rakyat while gaining political mileage from standing with them against what many perceive as an inept government.

Umno conveniently downplays the part where it forms a large part of that government, holding the deputy prime ministership, one of the four senior ministerships, and nine of 32 cabinet positions (28%).

Most of the key positions dealing with the pandemic – health, vaccination, science and security are all Umno appointments, so blame on the handling of the pandemic should at least be shouldered in part by Umno.

You can’t take all the good of the government and blame Bersatu for all the bad, while also side-lining the ministers you don’t like.

In creating a rift with the government, at a time of crisis, it is only responsible to offer a solution, yet Umno offers little beyond the pandemonium already sure to happen at Parliament. 

It also refuses to budge from the same stalemate position it had months ago, refusing all and any cooperation with Pakatan Harapan, DAP, PKR and Anwar Ibrahim.

With 38 MPs, it is a large bloc in Parliament, but still smaller than DAP and only marginally stronger than PKR. So, much of its arrogance seems misplaced.

If Umno believes itself to be the head honcho of a 14-party dominant coalition, it needs to be reminded that the coalition itself has split four ways – Sabah, Sarawak, BN and other parties.

Even its position as Barisan Nasional (BN) chair seems less convincing, as both MCA and MIC have moved away from Umno’s decision to take on the prime minister. 

While PKR and DAP have an understanding and semi-solid pact going into the next general election, Umno’s fate depends on both BN and PAS holding up their end of the deal, which seems iffy at best, with the two preferring to side with the incumbency on most counts.

If it hopes to make any headway, and if its motivations are truly to improve the Covid-19 situation, Umno needs to cooperate with other parties and put on hold its election strategy and game plan.

The same applies to PAS, who also seem focused on its own interests. 

Both parties need to stop playing to the gallery of their followers at the cost of political stability, democratic principles and saving the health system from collapsing, and arresting a further decline in the economy.

As no one is fighting them, they need to stop shadow boxing and come to the table with sincerity and humility, with their egos and personal party ambitions set aside or we could all risk being worse off than what we were at square one. – July 14, 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.