The Malaysian Insight

MOST, if not all, politicians have the ability to talk from both sides of their mouth.

Before May 9, an entire group of politicians angry with then prime minister Najib Razak joined hands with the then opposition of PKR, DAP and Amanah to form Pakatan Harapan (PH) to unseat Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN).

This group was Bersatu, led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former Umno No. 2 Muhyiddin Yassin. History will show that they succeeded, with support from a fair number of Malaysians and a lack of votes from BN’s traditional voter base.

Winning without getting the two-thirds parliamentary super-majority that allows them to amend the constitution, PH agreed then to not accept defectors until they are cleared of any wrongdoing during the BN years.

This past few months, however, a trickle of Umno lawmakers have defected to Bersatu. That trickle is now becoming a torrent, seen from the group of Sabah lawmakers and six other Barisan Nasional MPs this past week.

And suddenly, it is almost kosher for them to join Bersatu or any other PH party, because of political realities and not the past, according to Bersatu president Muhyiddin.

Perhaps the veteran politician sacked more than two years ago contemptuously by Umno can forgive his former compatriots. Or his political reality is to build up Bersatu from the 16 MPs, including three from Umno, into a bigger party within PH.

But taking in the likes of Rahim Thamby Chik or other Umno defectors who had senior roles in the BN government is akin to rehabilitating Najib Razak and accepting him as a member in due course.

All for the sake of political realities? 

What sort of reality is this? To expand the power base in Parliament and the state legislatures? To go back on promises made in the run-up to the May 9 general election?

As it is, this Mahathir government has used the excuse of not having a two-thirds majority to scuttle some electoral pledges. Would these Umno defectors show sincerity by helping to vote in those pledges?

Look, it is this simple. BN lost in the May 9 elections. Umno politicians backed Najib all the way, even borrowing phrases like Liverpool football club’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to show their undying support for him and his policies.

The 54 Umno MPs who won then are now reduced to 37 in Parliament. The others have bolted and shown they are just politicians looking out for just themselves, not their party or leader.

What reasons are there to take in such disloyal people? What reasons are there to take in these politicians who followed Najib and ran down PH in the May 9 election campaign? What reasons are there to believe their sincerity?

Instead of trying to shore up legislative or political support, Bersatu and the other PH parties should just work on fulfilling their electoral pledges and ensuring prosperity is enjoyed by all.

These Umno politicians, particularly lawmakers, are no guarantee for future election victories. They are no guarantee of anything in the long term, only for short-term political gains within the ruling coalition.

The political reality for PH today is integrity, not more support within the coalition or in Parliament. Show what you can do with the support you have now, not with the idea of getting greater numbers.

You already have the people’s trust, why squander it for anything less? – December 17, 2018.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insight.