The Issue Is Not The Numbers But What To Do After Ousting Muhyiddin
The February 2020 experience has taught Pakatan Harapan that toppling the prime minister might not end up the way they hope it would. What happens if yesterday Budget 2021 was sabotaged and Muhyiddin got ousted? What would follow? They were not sure, and since they would have no control over who will take over as PM9, they chose to abort the planned sabotage and allow Budget 2021 to pass.
They are saying they actually had the numbers and could have ousted Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday if they wanted to but purposely did not want to do so. And the reason, they explained, is because they wanted Budget 2021 to be passed since it was too late to get a new budget done if the government changes.
They can always approve Budget 2021 and change the government after that, and then the new government can amend or improve the budget later to include two very important elements: the RM10,000 withdrawals per EPF contributor and the six months moratorium on loans.
These are the two bones of contention for Umno. Budget 2021 does not include the RM10,000 withdrawals per EPF contributor and the six months moratorium on loans. Hence the Perikatan Nasional government and Muhyiddin need to be kicked out and a new government needs to take over with a yet to be decided prime minister heading that government.
And herein lies the problem. The Perikatan Nasional government and Muhyiddin need to be kicked out and a new government needs to take over with a yet to be decided prime minister heading that government. And who is that “yet to be decided prime minister” who will take over if or when Muhyiddin is ousted?
That was why they allowed Budget 2021 to pass yesterday. If they sabotage Budget 2021, like they say they could have since they had the numbers, who will be taking office as PM9?
The “almost end of year” and “time too short to prepare a new budget” was not the main factor for the aborted sabotage yesterday. The main factor was: if they succeed in sabotaging Budget 2021 and Muhyiddin falls, what then?
Pakatan Harapan is still suffering from the aftershock of the February 2020 coup against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. They thought it was a simple matter of pressuring Mahathir to resign and he would do so, and then Anwar Ibrahim could take over as PM8.
What Pakatan Harapan did not expect was that Mahathir would resign and the entire Pakatan Harapan government would collapse. Pakatan Harapan did not have a Plan B, so when the government collapsed, they were caught with their pants down.
Mahathir also thought that all he needed to do was to resign, collapse the government, and then come back as an “independent” interim or caretaker prime minister, and then form a new “party-less’ Cabinet. Mahathir did not expect that instead he would be opening the door for Muhyiddin to take over.
The February 2020 experience has taught Pakatan Harapan that toppling the prime minister might not end up the way they hope it would. What happens if yesterday Budget 2021 was sabotaged and Muhyiddin got ousted? What would follow? They were not sure, and since they would have no control over who will take over as PM9, they chose to abort the planned sabotage and allow Budget 2021 to pass. RPK
