THE prime minister’s resignation did not exactly come as a surprise. After months of criticism and uncertainty, Muhyiddin Yassin finally succumbed to pressure and announced his departure through a press conference laden with paternalistic undertones.

Muhyiddin’s fall – from being lauded for his fatherly approach in handling the pandemic to being ridiculed for that same persona in his resignation speech – might not have been so swift if not for the rapid escalation of Covid-19, some argue.

Whether this is true is now a moot point. Malaysians now wait anxiously as the candidates in line to fill the vacancy Muhyiddin left behind must surely be scrambling to obtain the support they need.

For some, the question of Muhyiddin’s successor is not important. The resignation of a prime minister and cabinet that have failed to institute the right measures to combat the pandemic is a necessity in and of itself, and should not be too much to ask in a functioning democracy.

There are also those who believe the opposition should have accepted the offers Muhyiddin made in his last-ditch attempt to salvage his position.

Regardless of his intentions, it must be acknowledged that the reforms Muhyiddin proposed have been central to civil society’s demands for decades, and some of them were also part of the Pakatan Harapan government’s manifesto, the Buku Harapan, a document the former prime minister played an important role in drafting.

During its short-lived administration, PH was criticised for dragging its feet in implementing those reforms, and many now see Muhyiddin’s offer as the golden opportunity for that door to open once again.

To give up this opportunity is not only foolish, but it might also mean that the chance for meaningful reforms have now been halted indefinitely.

To add insult to injury, the possibility now of Umno returning to government means that the likelihood these reforms will be taken up becomes even slimmer.

As a member of a civil society organisation that has carried out years of research and advocacy on many of the reforms Muhyiddin proposed, of course accepting his offer is tempting.

After the disappointment at the PH government’s slow progress (if any) at implementing these reforms it promised, it is natural to want to jump at this chance.

In contrast, as these reforms have been fought for and denied for so long, many in the non-profit community feel insulted that they have now been used as bargaining chips for the prime minister to gain the support he so desperately needed.

More than that, the serious trust deficit faced by the entire PN administration makes it difficult to believe that any of the proposed reforms will actually take place once he obtained that support.

This serious breakdown of trust between PN, the opposition and the people has been left to fester for months, and PH’s wholesale rejection is understandable.

The question that then arises is: how do we get these reforms back on the table? Some analysts argue that only a desperate government will have the incentive to cater to the people’s demands.

It was desperation that drove Muhyiddin to propose those reforms, not a genuine intention to see them through, but that does not matter.

What is important is that one foot is now in the door, what we need to do now is to keep pushing until the door becomes impossible to shut.

Many argue that the opposition should have taken advantage of Muhyiddin’s desperation and used it as a chance for real reforms.

After all, it is extremely rare that institutional reforms in Malaysia are pushed through by a well-intentioned government, or as we frequently say, the ever elusive “political will” has always been the great wall blocking meaningful change.

Perhaps it is worth thinking about how a serious breakdown of trust – among political actors, and between government and citizen – is already an insurmountable obstacle for any offer of the olive branch to be seen as genuine.

As I am writing this, the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat has ordered MPs to indicate their preference for prime minister to the Agong either via email, fax, or WhatsApp.

Besides trying to imagine who still uses a fax machine in this day and age, the fact that such methods can even be thought of to determine something as crucial as this is truly baffling.

Alas, these days, everyday life seems to have entered the realm of the bizarre, from doomsday footage of Afghans trying to cling on to moving military transports for dear life, to digesting the fact that we have lost more than 12,000 Malaysians to Covid-19, to all the candidates for prime minister touted so far being older than the number of years Malaysia has existed.

This really is the time when the truly surreal has taken centre stage and I cannot help but wonder for how much longer we are able to endure.

* Aira Azhari is research manager at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.

* 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.