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YOURSAY | PM, not Umno, is the problem
YOURSAY | 'Anwar has spectacularly failed to show leadership over the past four years.'
Mahfuz to Umno: Find honourable exit, don't wait to get chased out
GP2025: The only reason why Umno isn’t leaving the government is because of the deal to support the government for a full term. If that deal could be broken, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had every reason to expel Umno from the coalition administration. But he didn’t, and Umno took advantage.
You can’t blame Umno for the situation the PM put all the parties in because of the deal he made with them. He could have sacked Umno and still held the government with a simple majority, but he didn't do that either. Either because he was fearful it would result in a domino effect with other parties leaving the government, or because he wanted a two-thirds majority to change laws.
With the instability caused by the loss of support for him, he could also have called for snap polls, but he didn't. It would have cut short his full term and lost time to change laws, or for other reasons best known to him. The problem isn’t Umno; it’s the PM.
GreenFalcon2290: Why on earth will they step out of an arrangement which allows them to go arms-deep in the honey pot for five years, while winning left, right and centre by making other political alignments?
The issue is the utter incompetence, cowardice, and gutlessness of Anwar, who has spectacularly failed to show leadership over the past four years. The man should have booted them out the moment they started new linkages for the state elections.
DonGetMeWrong: The humiliation of PMX (Anwar) began during the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. His deputy and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his gang have insulted PMX and Pakatan Harapan incessantly. Yet PMX can brush it aside as though it is a small matter.
Now the same thing is going to happen in the Malacca state election. What are you going to do, Mr PMX? Swallow your pride and let Umno steamroll you until you have no more face?
The Fog of Life: The PM is simply too weak to boot out BN. How he manages to stomach their open treachery while they laugh in his face is beyond me. Do the right thing and be man enough to live with the consequences; that will make the PM more popular, but he is too scared. At the end of the day, he will leave office with very little to show for his efforts.
MarioT: Umno is known to play a double game. It will pat your back with one hand and pinch you with the other. Having spent over 60 years in full power and now playing second fiddle in the government, it now wants to return to its past monopolistic control. It is high time Harapan decides whether keeping Umno in its fold is worth it or if it is a force working against it.
Iv4n: I agree with Amanah’s Mahfuz Omar. Umno can choose who it wants to work with, but if it sees PAS and Perikatan Nasional as its partners for the 16th general election, then say so openly and leave the unity government.
How long does Umno expect to keep its seats at the cabinet table while campaigning with parties that want to bring down the government it sits in? That’s a decision Umno should have the courage to make for itself. Why wait for Anwar to make it for them?
RedRaven607: When Umno says Harapan should be grateful, DAP’s answer is simple: gratitude does not mean obedience. Umno’s support helped form the government, but Harapan remains the larger parliamentary bloc and a full governing partner - not a junior partner awaiting Umno’s permission.
DAP has 40 MPs to Umno’s 26, yet it recognises that governing requires compromise with strategically important partners. That is realism, not weakness: DAP will work with Umno, but it will not accept that Umno owns the government or can dictate every term.
In short, Umno may have leverage, but it does not have a licence to rule over Harapan. Its support was not an act of generosity; it was a political bargain that secured UMNO the deputy premiership, ministerial posts, and continued relevance in government.
A coalition partner cannot demand gratitude while treating its participation as a permanent favour. Harapan did not join the government to become Umno’s tenant; it joined to govern, reform, and deliver for the people.
FellowMalaysian: Show some gratitude when Umno openly criticised Harapan for its own foolishness in causing and enabling the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to overspend by RM1.5 billion? And when Anwar withheld funds for next year's projects, he was soundly rebuked for being deaf to the sufferings of the grassroots.
Bornean: The problem is, once Umno pulls out of this Madani government, very likely Gabungan Parti Sarawak will follow them. To make sure GPS will not do so, Harapan has to give assurances that it will not set foot in the Sarawak election.
GPS and Umno had such an arrangement from the beginning; that's why GPS supports Umno. Time for Harapan to leave both Sarawak and Sabah.
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These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
YOURSAY | 'The issue is the utter incompetence, cowardice, and gutlessness of Anwar.'
Mahfuz to Umno: Find honourable exit, don't wait to get chased out
GP2025: The only reason why Umno isn’t leaving the government is because of the deal to support the government for a full term. If that deal could be broken, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had every reason to expel Umno from the coalition administration. But he didn’t, and Umno took advantage.
You can’t blame Umno for the situation the PM put all the parties in because of the deal he made with them. He could have sacked Umno and still held the government with a simple majority, but he didn't do that either. Either because he was fearful it would result in a domino effect with other parties leaving the government, or because he wanted a two-thirds majority to change laws.
With the instability caused by the loss of support for him, he could also have called for snap polls, but he didn't. It would have cut short his full term and lost time to change laws, or for other reasons best known to him. The problem isn’t Umno; it’s the PM.
GreenFalcon2290: Why on earth will they step out of an arrangement which allows them to go arms-deep in the honey pot for five years, while winning left, right and centre by making other political alignments?
The issue is the utter incompetence, cowardice, and gutlessness of Anwar, who has spectacularly failed to show leadership over the past four years. The man should have booted them out the moment they started new linkages for the state elections.
DonGetMeWrong: The humiliation of PMX (Anwar) began during the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. His deputy and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his gang have insulted PMX and Pakatan Harapan incessantly. Yet PMX can brush it aside as though it is a small matter.
Now the same thing is going to happen in the Malacca state election. What are you going to do, Mr PMX? Swallow your pride and let Umno steamroll you until you have no more face?
The Fog of Life: The PM is simply too weak to boot out BN. How he manages to stomach their open treachery while they laugh in his face is beyond me. Do the right thing and be man enough to live with the consequences; that will make the PM more popular, but he is too scared. At the end of the day, he will leave office with very little to show for his efforts.
MarioT: Umno is known to play a double game. It will pat your back with one hand and pinch you with the other. Having spent over 60 years in full power and now playing second fiddle in the government, it now wants to return to its past monopolistic control. It is high time Harapan decides whether keeping Umno in its fold is worth it or if it is a force working against it.
Iv4n: I agree with Amanah’s Mahfuz Omar. Umno can choose who it wants to work with, but if it sees PAS and Perikatan Nasional as its partners for the 16th general election, then say so openly and leave the unity government.
How long does Umno expect to keep its seats at the cabinet table while campaigning with parties that want to bring down the government it sits in? That’s a decision Umno should have the courage to make for itself. Why wait for Anwar to make it for them?
RedRaven607: When Umno says Harapan should be grateful, DAP’s answer is simple: gratitude does not mean obedience. Umno’s support helped form the government, but Harapan remains the larger parliamentary bloc and a full governing partner - not a junior partner awaiting Umno’s permission.
DAP has 40 MPs to Umno’s 26, yet it recognises that governing requires compromise with strategically important partners. That is realism, not weakness: DAP will work with Umno, but it will not accept that Umno owns the government or can dictate every term.
In short, Umno may have leverage, but it does not have a licence to rule over Harapan. Its support was not an act of generosity; it was a political bargain that secured UMNO the deputy premiership, ministerial posts, and continued relevance in government.
A coalition partner cannot demand gratitude while treating its participation as a permanent favour. Harapan did not join the government to become Umno’s tenant; it joined to govern, reform, and deliver for the people.
FellowMalaysian: Show some gratitude when Umno openly criticised Harapan for its own foolishness in causing and enabling the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to overspend by RM1.5 billion? And when Anwar withheld funds for next year's projects, he was soundly rebuked for being deaf to the sufferings of the grassroots.
Bornean: The problem is, once Umno pulls out of this Madani government, very likely Gabungan Parti Sarawak will follow them. To make sure GPS will not do so, Harapan has to give assurances that it will not set foot in the Sarawak election.
GPS and Umno had such an arrangement from the beginning; that's why GPS supports Umno. Time for Harapan to leave both Sarawak and Sabah.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
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If PMX were to boot BN out, it will likely trigger an early GE which is politically destabilising for the country, a shame after all the economic gains for the country since PH took power. Furthermore, it needs to complete term in order to push reforms through CSA with Bersatu MPs as BN tak boleh diharap. If you read Wong Chin Huat's analysis to the liberals, the problem with our political situation whereby coalition and cooperation is crucial to form government, it is normal for parties to be in rivalry but protect common interest within, instead of seeking cooperation outside and destabilising the entire government. But that's what BN is doing. Rather than consolidating power within, it backstabs PH and seek alliances outside. This kind of behaviour will never create political stability for economic development and prosperity. It is detrimental to nation building especially when race and religious sentiments are fanned to create fear. Hence, be clear that the blame is on BN and not PMX.
The problem is deeper than Anwar or UMNO. The headline “PM, not Umno, is the problem” is unfortunate and reflects a superficial approach to political journalism. The accompanying commentary offers little historical depth and, at times, resembles provocation rather than constructive political analysis. Malaysia's problem is neither Anwar Ibrahim nor UMNO alone. It is the legacy of decades of centralised government and the accommodation of that system by political, bureaucratic and commercial elites. Under the competing banners of meritocracy and ketuanan, sections of these elites have participated in what can reasonably be examined as state capture. The evidence is hiding in plain sight. Consider the extraordinary concentration of wealth represented by the Forbes rich list, alongside the dependence on poorly protected migrant labour. These are very different positions in the economic hierarchy, but both invite a fundamental question: has Malaysia developed a political economy in which extracting wealth and opportunity takes precedence over contributing to the common good? This is not an indictment of particular ethnic communities or migrant workers, many of whom contribute enormously. It is a criticism of an economic and political system that rewards privilege, patronage and exploitation. Anwar has managed to assemble and sustain a coalition government amid considerable political fragmentation, without the violent upheavals that have accompanied political transitions elsewhere. Whatever his shortcomings, that achievement deserves recognition. One might reasonably wonder why he would even want the job. UMNO, meanwhile, is struggling with its own internal contradictions, attempting to preserve its relevance while navigating relationships with former adversaries. Its strategy increasingly resembles the old maxim: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The challenge is therefore not simply to replace a prime minister or weaken a political party. It is to dismantle the structures of centralised power, patronage and state capture that have survived successive governments. Until Malaysians confront that deeper problem, changing political personalities will merely reproduce the same system under different management.
Pmx stated that he extended Azam 3 times because of Azam “ boldness “. Pmx does not practice what he preaches unless what he really means that “avoiding fighting for what is right is a sign of boldness” ?
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