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They pointed out that the government now only has 104 MPs on its side, with 11 BN MPs against the government and the remaining 105 MPs in the opposition.
This comes after deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob claimed 31 parliamentarians from the BN coalition were still supporting the government, though not all could be present at a press conference held today.
“I think Ismail wanted to help him (the prime minister), but by doing so, he actually officially and publicly demonstrated that, objectively, Muhyiddin has lost parliamentary majority,” said Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
He stressed that this did not automatically mean that the opposition could take over, as the remaining 11 BN MPs have yet to clarify who they wanted for the country’s top leadership post.
Oh also said in theory, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could now ask Muhyiddin to resign if he was satisfied that the prime minister had lost his majority.
“The King can exercise his constitutional discretion and either ask Muhyiddin to prove the numbers expeditiously in a few days, or he could dismiss him outright,” he said.
Political scientist Wong Chin Huat said the prime minister had effectively lost majority support unless he could pull seven more MPs from the opposition.
Wong said the government should immediately prove its majority, adding that if it survived or if a new administration emerged, it should go full term.
“Dragging on in the name of fighting the pandemic but promising a quick election as soon as possible is simply illogical,” he said.
“Health and economic policies need medium- and long-term planning. No ministers can focus on their jobs now before September.”
He also said the fundamental cause of the country’s political instability was the “huge incumbent advantages” that drove politicians to do anything to be part of the government.
“Until we dismantle such incumbent advantages, or the one-party predominance is restored, don’t expect political stability to be restored.”
Meanwhile, National Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir believed that the show of support outside of Parliament was “meaningless” as the number of statutory declarations (SDs) could change every other day.
He said a vote of confidence must still be tabled in Parliament to officially determine where Muhyiddin and Perikatan Nasional stand.
Ideally, he said this should be done as soon as possible instead of in September, but at this juncture the top priority should be on managing the economic and public health crises.
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