Soon after Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is an Umno vice-president, was sworn in as the nation’s ninth Prime Minister, his party started disputing the claim by Bersatu that his new government would still be a Perikatan Nasional-led one.
Immediately after former Prime Minister Mahiaddin Yasin, who is also Bersatu president and PN chairman, had claimed that Ismail Sabri’s new government was still a PN government, Umno secretary general Ahmad Maslan and Umno supreme council member Rahman Dahlan disputed the idea that the new government would still be PN-led. They said it should be called a Barisan Nasional government instead or simply a coalition government, as this new administration consists of three coalitions: BN, PN and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Looking at Umno’s attempt to undermine the PN position again, the PN leadership called for an emergency meeting to discuss this. And the outcome? Mahiaddin announced once again: the Ismail Sabri administration is still a PN-led government because PN has the highest number of parliamentary seats among those holding the parliamentary majority.
Currently, PN has 50 seats, BN 41 and GPS 18. Although PN no longer holds the PM’s seat, it still has a say on how this government should be run based on its total number of seats. However, though PN still has the edge, BN, PN or GPS still could undermine each other’s position if any of these coalitions is dissatisfied with each another’s gain or if demands are not met.
Mahiaddin and his Bersatu toppled the then-Pakatan Harapan-led government in February 2020 and then collaborated with BN and GPS to form a new government under his own new PN. This coalition includes the conservative Islamic party Pas, the Sabah Star, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Gerakan.
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This turned the entire nation upside down. The Covid situation grew worse while the repeated lockdowns did not bring about any improvement or recovery. Instead, it led to an economic decline due to the restrictions on business activity.
Both BN and GPS cannot claim that they were not part of these problems because they had been part of the PN-led government under Mahiaddin as well.
The PN-BN-GPS 1.0 government failed to curb the health and economic crisis from the very beginning due to its intense political bickering.
Today, we see a PN-BN-GPS 2.0 government. This is a failure because this administration will comprise the same coalitions who were part of the government, and then parted ways – only to return to the fold with a new PM – who was from the first failed government.
So, whether you insist it is PN-led or BN-led, both held similar positions before. They are proven failures who just had a big fight and then regrouped with the same old features – only to bicker over what this ‘new’ government should be called.
The fact is, they are all still failures, unable to find an effective resolution to the crisis. They will probably start blaming each other again in the next few months to gain some political mileage over each other.
If BN and PN still cannot get on with it, just quit and let the opposition coalition take over to put the nation back on its feet. Do not lead our nation towards destruction.
If PN had failed from March 2020 until recently, then BN should come up with its action plan and solution to stop the people and the entire nation from sinking further. Come up with results, or you will be shown the door once again! – whchengsocdem.wordpress.com
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
No country should be run on Race and Religion. We will not be free if we continue to do so.