Mixed reactions from opposition over Ismail Sabri’s appointment
Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s appointment as the ninth prime minister has garnered mixed responses from the opposition politicians.
One that was particularly in stark difference came from DAP National Publicity secretary Tony Pua, who blamed the opposition for Umno's return to power...
Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s appointment as the ninth prime minister has garnered mixed responses from the opposition politicians.
One that was particularly in stark difference came from DAP National Publicity secretary Tony Pua, who blamed the opposition for Umno's return to power.
"Getting kicked out of the government in February 2020 was bad. But playing a major starring role in returning power to Umno? Devastating," he said in a Facebook post this evening.
Pua was referring to the fall of Pakatan Harapan last year, and the role played by the opposition to pressure the Perikatan Nasional government that led to the recent resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin as the eighth prime minister.
The Damansara MP has been critical of the idea of overthrowing Muhyiddin, citing fear that it could lead to Umno getting back to power after it was defeated by Harapan in the 2018 general election.
For the record, Harapan managed to form a federal government in May 2018 after years of fighting the Umno-led BN ruling coalition.
When Muhyiddin offered all political parties across the divide to work together, in what was seen as a last-ditch attempt to save his position, Pua was among the few opposition leaders who suggested that the opposition should consider it.
Muhyiddin had offered, among others, to implement political reforms that Harapan had been fighting for, including limiting the term of a prime minister and Undi18.
Muhyiddin had also offered to give equal parliamentary allocation to all opposition MPs and that the opposition leader would be treated as a senior cabinet minister, in exchange for their support.
However, Pua's notion of accepting the olive branch extended by Muhyiddin received flak. Another DAP leader who shared similar beliefs was Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, who was also heavily criticised.
Chan Foong Hin, the DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, in a statement to Malaysiakini asked if the new government would extend a similar offer to the opposition.
"Would this government continue the seven offers for inter-parties cooperation, as what was laid out by former prime minister Muhyiddin - including to legislate anti-hopping laws, equal allocation to all MPs regardless of party, and implementation of Undi18 without having to wait for automatic registration?"
DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke sidestepped the issue of whether Harapan should have accepted Muhyiddin’s offer, and pointed the blame for Umno’s return squarely at those behind the Sheraton Move defections.
“All these are endless polemics because everyone has their opinion (whether to accept the offer). The reality is all 105 MPs in the opposition bloc are united in our decision to support Anwar Ibrahim as the bloc’s sole candidate for prime minister.
“What caused Harapan to be unable to retake the government and Umno’s resurgence is no one in the opposition bloc today, but the 18 Harapan MPs who won the 14th general election - 12 for PKR and six from Bersatu. They toppled the Harapan government in February 2020 and elevated Umno today,” he said.
Continue to fight for reforms
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, meanwhile, congratulated Ismail but stressed that the opposition would continue to fight for reforms.
"Congratulations and thank you to the palace. I hope that the new prime minister will bring new politics as advised by the king.
"His (Ismail) greatest challenge is to form a stable government and to focus on Covid-19 and the economy.
"We the opposition will continue to fight for reforms and a democratic Malaysia as a responsible and constructive opposition," he said.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also congratulated Ismail and said his main task will be to correct Malaysia’s failures in the battle against Covid-19 and the pandemic’s effects.
“Ismail should remember that he is the prime minister of all Malaysians. He must serve and protect the interest of everyone regardless of race, religion or background,” he added, apparently alluding to the prime minister designate’s past controversies.
Amanah president Mohamad Sabu welcomed Ismail's appointment as the country's next premier, but said he was still disappointed as the mandate won by Harapan in the 2018 election has not been returned to them.
"The rakyat might see the electoral process as something that was futile. Thus, the process of parliamentary democracy in Malaysia must be strengthened again.
"Make the rakyat confident that the 2020 Sheraton Move incident would not happen again in the future. If history repeats itself, then it means that this system we chose has been destroyed and needs to be repaired before we go into the next election.
"But it would be difficult to make the rakyat confident, as the party that won (election) is now the opposition, while the one who loses has become the government.
"The rakyat has to choose. What is important is that parliamentary democracy must be upheld," he said in a statement.
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