Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - As storm clouds gather over talk of a new super unity coalition led by a new prime minister, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke insists he is confident the current unity government led by Anwar Ibrahim could last out the 5-year term it won through the King's support last year.
Howver, Anthony was careful to sidestep comment on what happens after that - raising eyebrows when he admitted it was 'already an achievement' for Anwar's 'Madani' to survive a year.
"The fact that the government has survived almost a year is an achievement by itself,” he reportedly said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Anthony, who is also Transport minister, based his optimism on the warming relationship between his Pakatan Rakyat coalition and the Umno-BN coalition.
Bitter enemies for decades, the pair came together in November last year to seek consent from the King to form the federal govt. They were joined by Sarawak's powerful GPS coalition and Sabah's GRS and together, they now hold a super-majority of more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament.
UNDERWHELMING PERFORMANCE
However, Anwar has invited severe backlash and criticism, as he tried to brush off the effects of a free-falling ringgit, which has fallen to its lowest in history - breaching even the 25-year lows hit during the Asian Financial crisis.
Holding both the prime minister as well as the finance minister posts, Anwar's underwhelming performance has drawn calls for him to step down and take responsibility for the ringgit's shock freefall.
The GPS has also snubbed his call to make Malay the official language in the civil service, openly stating it would stick with lingua-franca English. A 'Palestine Solidarity Week' launched by Education minister Fadhlina Sidek to be held in schools in 'empathy' with the Palestinians was also tersely ignored.
Adding fuel to the fire were the unrestrained remarks from the Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail that Anwar was indecisive and lacked courage to do what was needed to put the nation back on track. Tunku Ismail's father is set to become Malaysia's King on Jan 31, 2024,
Given how the existing King, who is the Pahang Sultan, had played key roles in the determination of Malaysia's past 3 administrations, many believe the PN-PAS opposition led by Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang would try to topple the underperforming Anwar soon.
"All the opposition needs to do to come back to power is to present to the King enough statutory declarations of support from Members of Parliament. This will show the King that they and not Anwar's 'Madani' government have the people's support," a political watcher told Politics Now!
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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