Ninety per cent of politicians give the other ten per cent a bad name.
– Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is under a lot of pressure. And more so now than ever before.
It’s not easy being the prime minister, especially for someone in Ismail Sabri’s shoes. Even though he is the nation’s chief executive, he is not totally in charge of the government as he has too many political bosses to listen to.
The bosses have made demands which they expected the prime minister to fulfil. If he doesn’t, then expect trouble. This is Ismail Sabri’s biggest headache.
But then, nobody asked Ismail Sabri to be the prime minister after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was forced to step down in August last year. He lobbied for the job and he got it…but with more conditions (read demands too) than he could possibly cope with.
As Ismail Sabri is not the president of Umno but only one of its four vice-presidents, he has to answer to his bosses in Umno. Then, there is Muhyiddin, the president of Bersatu and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition who also have conditions for the prime minister in return for support to stay in the job as PM.
This past week alone, Ismail Sabri has seen the pressure mounting and I am just not sure what the man is thinking now. I can expect him to ask himself whether all this is worth it at the end of it all.
But hey, this is the premiership of the country, the top job in one’s political career and Ismail Sabri is not known to be unambitious. Well, he did lobby to be prime minister last year.
Muhyiddin has indeed kept his successor very busy of late. The resignation of Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin from Bersatu has put Ismail Sabri in a very sticky position.
Muhyiddin wants Zuraida out from the cabinet and has insisted that she be replaced with a Bersatu nominee. The Bersatu president has made that clear to the prime minister.
However, it is reliably learnt that Ismail Sabri preferred to allow Zuraida to continue in her cabinet position as GE15 is just round the corner.
In short, the prime minister is not keen to reshuffle his cabinet but he could be forced to do so, sooner than later.
Muhyiddin is pushing the prime minister into a corner, that’s for sure. On July 2, the Bersatu leader told reporters that he met Ismail Sabri a few days ago to discuss cabinet appointments, including the position of deputy prime minister, which he said were related to an agreement that PN had with the prime minister.
“I raised a few important issues including government appointments and not only to fill existing vacancies. New appointments should be considered based on PN’s agreement with the prime minister,” he said.
This latest Muhyiddin’s announcement revealed a lot about how the man operates as a political leader. Cabinet appointments and giving out top posts in GLCs to his so-called supporters are his modus operandi in ensuring his political survival.
That was clear when Muhyiddin appointed a bloated cabinet full of misfits and filled up key posts in GLCs with his supporters in March 2020. Running out of cabinet positions, he also created Special Envoy posts which were deemed unnecessary.
And his main topic of discussion with Ismail Sabri recently was on cabinet appointments, positions and posts.
Let me say this. For a prime minister to appoint people to key posts in the government and GLCs as “sweeteners” for support is not the answer. At best, that is only temporary. It is only as good as it lasts, as Muhyiddin had also discovered.
What happened to him in August 2021? Why did Muhyiddin step down as PM? Despite providing almost all of his people with plum jobs, his job was even not secure.
So, what does a prime minister really need to stay in power? He must have the majority support of the Members of Parliament – more than half of the 222 MPs in the august House. And that must be a legitimate government, democratically elected by the people after a general election.
Malaysia cannot go on as we are now – a backdoor government formed by treachery of the worst kind ever seen in the political history of the nation. There will never be peace and stability in such a uncertain situation.
I agree with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak when he ticked off Muhyiddin over his demands to Ismail Sabri.
“The general election (GE15) is around the corner. At the latest, it will be held in a year’s time. So are positions and committees the priority for Malaysians?
“The people come first and the focus should be on improving the economy and fighting inflation,” he said.
And let me add: Offering posts in an attempt to buy support is not the answer – it is never the answer!
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
