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10 Facts About the Latest Malaysia Political Turmoil Whereby PM Muhyiddin Yassin Resigned Simplified for You

2021-08-16 , 4:54 pm

Yesterday, it was reported that PM Muhyiddin Yassin will be submitting his resignation today after a meeting with his party and party alliance.

And early this afternoon, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin wrote this on an Instagram Story:

While it’s shocking to many, people who know about Malaysia politics won’t find it a surprise.

Soon after, at 3pm, PM Muhyiddin addressed the nation, confirming the news.

Now, before you get way confused over what the heck is going on, you might want to watch this video to the end to understand how a parliamentary government is formed. Don’t worry, it’s so simplified, even your 5-year-old niece would understand:

Done?

Let’s make you a smarter person when you dine in with your four other vaccinated friends today by simplifying what’s happened today.

The Very Basics with an Example

Because I know you didn’t watch the video above, I’m going to simplify how a parliamentary government (like Singapore, Malaysia or New Zealand) is formed, using Singapore as an example but in an alternate universe.

Imagine that in the 2020 General Elections, WP won 29% of the seats, SDP won 21% of the seats, PSP won 16% of the seats and PAP won 33% of the seats. Who would form the government?

Some of you might think it’s PAP, but no: to form a government, the party needs a majority of the seats, which is 51%.

So like that, how seh?

Usually, in other countries, parties form alliances even before the election. In New Zealand, an alliance, which is usually known as a coalition, comprises three parties: New Zealand Labour Party, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and New Zealand First. This coalition is now the Government in the country.

Unlike Singapore, most world governments are formed not by individual parties but by a coalition. Case in point here: before 2018, the government in Malaysia is formed by Barisan Nasional, an alliance comprising nine parties. They then lost to another coalition party, Pakatan Harapan, which has 14 parties.

Confused? Let’s go back to our Singapore elections.

So in Singapore, in an alternate universe, WP and PAP might be an alliance known as WPAP, while SDP and PSP form an alliance known as SAPSP. If that is so, then WPAP will form the government since they’ve the majority seats.

And this is when things can go very wrong: what if WP and PAP have an disagreement while they’re governing the country?

Or what if some elected party members switched sides and joined, say, PSP?

Then all of a sudden, WPAP wouldn’t have 51% of the seats.

And this was what happened last year, which resulted in the resignation of Mahathir as his coalition has lost the majority after a party and 11 MPs from PKR (a party in his coalition) left the coalition.

What Usually Happens After That

While this seems like a politic disaster that happens once every hundred years, it isn’t: it’s not uncommon, and when this happens (whereby the power balance is shaken), a snap election is conducted.

A snap election is basically a normal election, but conducted earlier than expected since there’s a change in the government.

Since last year, people in Malaysia have been calling for a snap election, but of course we know what happened: COVID-19 disrupted it.

In early 2021, the country entered into a state of emergency due to COVID-19, which means there probably won’t be any election until COVID-19 is under control.

And just as you think this will continue until Singaporeans can enter Malaysia freely…

History Repeats Itself

Earlier this month, several MPs in his coalition disavowed PM Muhyiddin’s leadership.

In other words, the same issue occurred: while he still has support from his party, BERSATU, some elected MPs from one of his coalition’s parities, UMNO, aren’t supporting him.

If you’d have remembered, the same issue caused Mahathir to lose power last year.

Muhyiddin Yassin: Let’s Talk in September

Despite the public spat, PM Muhyiddin said that he would determine his legitimacy in the next Parliament sitting that’s set to take place next month. That would be done via a vote of confidence, whereby MPs would vote whether they still support him or not.

After all, words are cheap, right? Votes are what matter.

Just as we held our breath and take bets on whether he’d win, today happened.

Rumours Since Yesterday

It all started yesterday, when Malaysia news website Malaysiakini reported that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Mohd Redzuan Yusof said that PM Muhyiddin will tender his resignation to the King today.

According to him, PM Muhyiddin announced his decision when he met fellow MPs from his party at the headquarters of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance (his coalition) in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning.

Then, before PM Muhyiddin took to the stage to announce his resignation this afternoon, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin said the entire cabinet has resigned, and now, we’re back to square one.

Confirmed: PM Muhyiddin is Going to be Mr Muhyiddin

At 3pm today, PM Muhyiddin went on TV to announce his resignation.

He said that he had lost the majority in the House, and his earlier suggestion of taking a vote of confidence to determine whether he still has the support would now be irrelevant since 15 MPs from UNMO withdrew their support for him and that his proposal for bipartisan cooperation was rejected by the opposition parties.

He added, “Therefore, there is no need any more for my legitimacy as prime minister to be proven in the parliament.”

Some Harsh Words

It’s not just a “I’m out, thank you goodbye” speech: he said that he had tried to save the coalition at least until the tasks to manage the pandemic are completed.

But that didn’t work out because “because there were greedy parties who were (more interested in) grabbing power than prioritising people’s lives and livelihoods.”

He claimed that he could’ve taken the easy way out by sacrificing his principles and staying on as prime minister, but that wasn’t his choice, adding, “I will never conspire with kleptocratic groups, interfere with judiciary independence and turn my back on the federal constitution simply to stay in power.”

Country’s Fight With COVID-19 Will Continue

Of course, the first question we’d ask is this: What about the fight against COVID-19?

PM Muhyiddin said that his cabinet has ordered enough vaccines, and “if the vaccination programme goes well, all of you will get vaccinated by the end of October.”

He added that Malaysia will exit his pandemic “very soon”.

What The King Said

The King received the resignation of the entire cabinet today, and said that PM Muhyiddin will remain as caretaker Prime Minister until a new one is appointed.

So would there be an election?

The palace said in a statement that calling for an election during the pandemic is not the best option, adding, “His Majesty was informed by the Election Commission chairman that as of Aug 10, 2021, 484 (or 79 per cent) out of 613 state seats are COVID-19 red zones.

“At the same time, His Majesty was aware that the health facilities in the country are in a worrying situation.”

Who’ll be The Next Prime Minister?

So far, it’s unknown.

Back in September 2020, Anwar Ibrahim claimed to have the majority support to be MP—even support from parties from the governing coalition. That didn’t pan out well after the King claimed that he did not provide the “names and details of the members of parliament who he claims to support him.”

In other words, without an election, the only way we’d know who’ll be the next PM is to wait for the ruling coalition to vote on a leader.

However, the King can decide who to be the PM based on who has the majority support. Last year, Mahathir had stayed on for a week as a caretaker PM after he tendered his resignation.

If you’re still confused, you probably haven’t watched the video we suggested earlier. Here, watch this and thank us later: