DAP began considering a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with the Muhyiddin Yassin administration when Anwar Ibrahim did not have the “numbers”, said Bangi MP Dr Ong Kian Ming. 

“It was quite obvious to us if Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the court cluster were to pull the rug from under Muhyiddin, this would cause him to resign as prime minister. 

“But Anwar didn’t have the numbers and he would not be appointed prime minister. And we already knew this despite the statutory declarations as we have seen this game played many times. 

“That was one of the reasons why I felt we had to push for a CSA,” said Ong, who together with Damansara MP Tony Pua, were instrumental in crafting the CSA.

Ong gave an interview to The Malaysian Insight at his office in Kajang yesterday, days after announcing his break from politics by not contesting in the 15th general election.

Ong was explaining why he and Pua tried to negotiate for a CSA with Muhyiddin before the prime minister resigned last year. The Bersatu president was replaced by Umno’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob in August.

Ong said Anwar’s lack of “numbers” was later reinforced by the 2021 supply bill (budget) debate as the opposition did not get the needed support from Barisan Nasional to stop the bill. 

“It was very clear to us that Anwar could not show the public that he had the numbers to be the majority to form a government.

“With my nine years in politics, although not that long but knowing the different players, we (with the blessing of the DAP leaders) went ahead to negotiate a CSA.”

Anwar claimed he had the numbers midway through the Sabah elections in September 2020, seven months after PH was toppled. Anwar announced on September 23 that Muhyiddin’s government had fallen. 

Hinting that he had the support of some BN lawmakers, Anwar claimed that he had enough support to form the federal government. 

But Anwar could not prove his majority and did not explain why he had made such a claim. 

Ong said the starting point for the historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) between PH and Ismail began with the talks with Muhyiddin’s administration. 

He said the CSA talks were necessary as the opposition was “going nowhere” after the PH government fell in February 2020.

“The reason why negotiations were started was because I saw that the opposition was going nowhere in terms of wanting to get back into power through some sort of ‘numbers’ game.

“Hence there were discussions which led to Muhyiddin’s offer. The offer came from talks with Dr Marzuki Mohamad and Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. 

“On the DAP side, it was Tony Pua and myself. We were the two people who stuck our necks out when the CSA was first proposed.

“Until the last minute we were unsure if Muhyiddin would make the offer. But he did and when the announcement was made, Tony and I tried very hard to convince DAP leaders to consider the offer. 

“But unfortunately this didn’t happen and the offer was rejected almost immediately,” said the 46-year-old politician. 

MOU was necessary

Ong said the party had been afraid of what would happen if Muhyiddin was forced to resign.

“We knew that if Muhyiddin resigned, an Umno MP would be the next prime minister. 

“And while Ismail Sabri was one of the possibilities for the position, there were also others. And once that happened, the Umno court cluster would have more leverage and bargaining power,” said the former DAP strategist. 

On the repercussions of restoring Umno to power, Ong said the elections in Malacca and Johor would not have happened if Muhyiddin had remained in power. 

“I don’t think the Malacca state elections would have happened without an Umno prime minister. I’m also quite sure that the Johor elections would not have happened if Muhyiddin was still the prime minster as Umno would not want to go against the Bersatu PM so openly.

“As such, I hope the public looks at things from our point of view when we negotiated the CSA.”

One saving grace, said Ong, was that although the CSA with Muhyiddin had failed, it set the course for the MoU with Ismail Sabri.

“The CSA set the groundwork for the MOU between Ismail Sabri and PH. It also allowed certain reforms such as Parliamentary select committees, constitutional amendments for Sabah and Sarawak and for a anti party-hopping law (APHL) before the end of the year as agreed by the prime minister. 

“The MOU script is not finished. If the APHL is passed, there is room for MOU 2.0,” said Ong.

On May 9, Ong, who is the former international trade and industry deputy minister, announced that he will not be defending the Bangi seat in the next general election.

Ong first won the then Serdang seat in 2013 by defeating MCA veteran and former MP Yap Pian Hon by polling 79,238 votes (67.98%). In 2018, Ong defended the enlarged seat renamed Bangi constituency after the 2018 delineation exercise, by defeating MCA’s Liew Yuen Keong, PAS’ Shafie Ngah and PRM’s Dennis Wan after polling 102,557 votes (65.6%). 

DAP first won the Serdang seat in the 2008 tsunami general election after Teo Nie Ching defeated MCA’s Hoh Hee Lee by winning 64.23% (47,444) of the votes. – May 15, 2022.