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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s two-time former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has established cooperation with his 30-year long-time rival, Umno Razaleigh lawmaker Hamzah, ahead of a crucial vote on the Perikatan Nasional government’s 2021 budget. (PN) on Tuesday (December 15).
At a press conference on Monday (December 14), Tun Dr Mahathir and Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh, the senior MP from the ruling Umno party, said they are willing to “contribute” their expertise to Malaysia’s development if the budget it fails at its end point. committee stage vote on Tuesday.
But the two statesmen fell short of saying that they are seeking to secure a parliamentary majority to form Malaysia’s next government.
In an unusual spectacle in Malaysian politics, they sat side by side at the joint press conference at Dr. Mahathir’s office in Kuala Lumpur, burying three decades of political enmity.
The press conference came just weeks after footage emerged of a meeting between the two men, leading to speculation that they would team up against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Muhyiddin-led PN administration only has a single-digit majority in the 222-member parliament.
Tengku Razaleigh, who had been an outspoken critic of the Tan Sri Muhyiddin administration, on Monday called the government “illegitimate”, the clearest indication that it is breaking ranks with his party. Umno contributes the largest parliamentary bloc for the Muhyiddin administration.
Tengku Razaleigh, 83, served in Dr. Mahathir’s cabinet twice during the 1980s, but the two men became bitter rivals beginning in 1987, when the former challenged the latter for the Umno presidency.
Tengku Razaleigh went on to form his own party called Semangat 46, before joining Umno in 1996.
He is currently in his ninth consecutive term as deputy for Gua Musang in Kelantan State. He is also chairman of the Umno advisory board.
“We are two elderly people. There is no need to pay us a salary, not even. We just want to contribute based on our experience and our knowledge,” said Dr. Mahathir, 95 years old.
He said their combined experience could help restore Malaysia’s economic reputation as a “tiger” economy, as it was called in the 1990s.
Dr. Mahathir, who resigned as prime minister in February after a political crisis that saw the formation of the current NP government, said Malaysians have an appetite for a “new government that doesn’t just think about themselves.”
Tengku Razaleigh, meanwhile, said PN’s policies were exacerbating the economic disparity in Malaysia.
This is not the first time that Dr. Mahathir, who was Prime Minister for 22 years during his first term, has joined forces with longtime political rivals.
In 2016, the former prime minister put aside differences with opposition leaders Lim Kit Siang and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to form the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH), which won federal power in 2018.
Dr. Mahathir was Prime Minister for 22 months in his second term before his party at the time, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), left PH.
This prompted 73-year-old Bersatu president Muhyiddin to form a new political alliance by joining Umno, Parti Islam SeMalaysia and a coalition of Sarawak parties.
Since then, Dr. Mahathir has formed another new party, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), which is awaiting approval from the Registrar of Companies.
Muhyiddin’s first federal budget, which was released on November 6, had already been approved at the policy stage and at various levels of the committee stage in Parliament.
But the final budget vote will take place on Tuesday.
Tengku Razaleigh, who was not present in Parliament to debate or vote on the budget during the political stage, confirmed that he would also not be present in Tuesday’s debate and vote, further reducing the figures on Muhyiddin’s side.
PH, in a statement Monday, said it will vote against the budget because the bill “had not met its objectives.”
“As such, we urge any parliamentarian, whether in the government or the opposition, who understands that the budget has not met its objectives, will reject it at third reading,” the tripartite coalition said in a joint statement signed by the secretaries. DAP, PKR and Amanah generals.
However, any attempt to defeat Muhyiddin’s budget would likely depend on Dr. Mahathir, along with the opposition leader, Mr. Anwar, 73, who leads the PH coalition.
Anwar, who no longer works with Dr. Mahathir after the latter’s departure from PH, has so far not presented any evidence to support his claim that he has secured enough MPs to overthrow the PN government.
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