A WEEK has passed since Umno declared it was no longer supporting the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, following a short but controversial parliamentary sitting that saw Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Takiyuddin Hassan accused of misleading the House, the Royal Palace issuing an extraordinary denial and rebuke of his account of events, and the session being cut short on account of some Covid cases.

It is a contest of wills between the oldest and youngest parties in the PN coalition, both representing the same demographic of Malay voters, both vying to dominate leadership of the country.

In the background, allegations of buying allegiance, “court” clusters, and political shadow play are whispered loudly along the corridors of power, almost oblivious to the fact the open gossip validates plenty of what the government has been accused of previously: using largesse for loyalty, its ability to influence court decisions, flexing its muscles to stifle criticism and so on.

The heated exchange is largely between these two parties, and to a much lesser degree, PAS, once courted by both sides, now largely aligned with PN and Bersatu.

The biggest irony is that these three parties formed the government on the back of a Malay unity theme, to “save” Malaysia from the “inept” government that was Pakatan Harapan.

The result is largely unsurprising, given the marriage was one of convenience, half the members of the coalition come from the previous regime, and the mutual distrust and overlapping ambition, despite the hollow narrative that helped smoothen their clumsy grab for power.

Much of the time needed to save Malaysia from an actual crisis was spent keeping the government intact, despite a lack of any real streamlined effort to bring it down, on the part of the opposition.

No, this instability is exclusively of the ruling alliance’s own doing, out of ambition and confidence in themselves and lack of trust in their partners.

Umno is perhaps too confident it can go at it alone in the next general elections, and that it still commands the level of support it did pre-2018.

Bersatu is sure it has the political strength to keep much larger Umno and PAS in check, while also tackling a pandemic and staving off an opposition with a razor thin margin majority.

Confidence is a good thing in politics, but too much of it, and you risk believing your own propaganda. 

Speaking of which, sometimes overdoing it can push your back into a corner from which is hard to emerge.

In repeatedly painting DAP and PKR in the same broad stroke – as the “enemies” of Islam and Malay interests, and Amanah as a lackey of DAP – both Umno and Bersatu have effectively cut themselves off from support from 88 MPs, the largest bloc of lawmakers and both the first and third largest parties in the Dewan Rakyat.

If you take into account the crossover constituencies, DAP and PKR controlled half of Parliament.

Similarly, GPS also seems to not want anything to do with DAP, over a row two years ago, or perhaps more logically out of concern that DAP has been aggressive in its traditional Chinese strongholds previously held by SUPP. 

Both Bornean-based pacts seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude, so are the state governments, half of which are won by a margin of under five seats and would flip with any minor change of allegiance.

At times of extreme crises like these, politics should take a back seat, but sadly those most loudly calling for a halt in hostilities are the breathing and living embodiment of politics. 

The survival of the country is more important than the survival of any political alliance or organisation.

While everyone acknowledges this fact with lip service, they all behave as if it is dirty business as usual in the dog-eat-dog world, all but to walk for a short while along the corridors of power. – August 11, 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.