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PETALING JAYA: Analysts expect a series of political maneuvers to follow Anwar Ibrahim’s claim that he has the numbers to form a new government.
Azmi Hassan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said there would be time, before Anwar has a hearing with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, for opposing parties to take steps to gain the support of MPs.
Awang Azman Pawi from Universiti Malaya said Anwar’s new coalition would still have to go through many processes before obtaining actual consent to form a government.
Anwar announced at a press conference yesterday that he had a “strong, formidable, convincing” majority to form a new government and that Agong had granted him a hearing, which had to be postponed because the king was being treated at the National Heart Institute. .
Awang Azman said that Agong would like to know the names of the MPs who support Anwar and probably also the parties that joined him, the reason for their participation and the position of the leaders of other parties.
He said he expected many to doubt Anwar’s claim because it came just days before the Sabah elections.
Azmi said the timing of Anwar’s announcement struck her as strange, as the king was still in the hospital and the Sabah elections would be held on Saturday.
However, he added that he did not believe it had anything to do with the state elections.
He also said that Anwar’s claim to have a large majority, if true, would be a relief to the public as it would mean the formation of a stable government without the need for an early election.
“A stable government that does not worry about losing its majority will theoretically put all efforts to govern the nation to its best ability,” he added.
Awang Azman agreed, saying that a government with a large majority would have a breathing space to focus on managing the Covid-19 pandemic and its wide-ranging implications.
He said that the alleged defection of Umno MPs to Anwar’s side was due to their dissatisfaction with the PPBM.
He noted that there had been calls from various sectors in Perikatan Nasional for an early election and said that Anwar’s support was likely to prevent any dissolution of Parliament until its due date in 2023.
According to Anwar, his new coalition is made up of his colleagues in Pakatan Harapan, as well as MPs from the current ruling bloc, but does not yet include Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s faction of former PPBM MPs.
