With less than 3 weeks before Sultan Ibrahim of Johor is scheduled to be sworn in as Malaysia’s 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), the clock is ticking as more crooks are in the queue to be charged. At least two former Prime Ministers – Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri – could potentially join fellow Najib Razak, the disgraced ex-premier currently serving 12 years jail for corruption.
Muhyiddin, the country’s first backdoor prime minister, has been slapped with four counts of corruptions and two counts of money laundering charges linked to RM600 billion Covid scandal during his 17-month illegitimate backdoor government (March 2020 – August 2021). Sabri’s spending of RM62 million to popularise his “Keluarga Malaysia” concept is under investigation, and he could soon be charged too.
On top of that, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is also investigating the dubious RM700 million allocation for publicity to promote the previous Muhyiddin and Ismail administrations between 2020 and 2022. While Muhyiddin had spent RM500 million, his successor “turtle egg” Sabri had used up about RM200 million. Chances are both had their hands in the cookie jar.
Mahathir Mohamad might escape jail due to his old age. But he has a bigger problem. As the longest serving prime minister (1981-2003), his corruption index is at the top of the chart. That would take ages for investigators to dig and prove. There’s more than one way to skin a cat though. The MACC could target Mahathir’s extraordinary wealthy children, the same way Daim Zainuddin’s assets are being frozen.
Muhyiddin, Ismail, Mahathir and Daim are four sharks that Anwar government is trying to catch and slaughter. There’s another old dying shark which the authorities have yet to touch for obvious reason – Abdul Taib Mahmud, the most corrupt former Sarawak Chief Minister (1981-2014) who was promoted as the Governor during Najib administration (2009-2018).
The primary reason the Borneo state is being left alone, at least for now, is because the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) ruling state government holds the golden key to forming the federal government with a simple-majority, as does the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). Anyway, Anwar’s popularity will skyrocket if he can jail just one of the four sharks, let alone all four of them.
This is why Anwar Ibrahim’s pledge to crack down on corruption has sent shivers down the spine of all the crooks, so much so the latest “Dubai Move” was hatched to overthrow him. The war against corruption committed by past leaders has united the three ex-premiers, who decided to topple – but fail – PM Anwar after the MACC seized the 60-storey Menara Ilham owned by the family of Daim.
After the Dubai Move failed (it was never able to take off from the beginning), the three groups in the Opposition – comprising Bersatu, PAS and Mahathir – began to experience panic disorder. The fantasy that King Sultan Abdullah would be calling Muhyiddin and his so-called coalition partners to form a new government on Dec 15, 2023, was torpedoed after the MACC froze and seized Daim’s assets on Dec 18.
Worse, the “Plan-B” to smuggle RM750 million to bribe MPs to declaring their “loss of confidence” in Anwar government was similarly intercepted, thanks largely to Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, which grants the authorities with wide power. Again, the hallucination of swearing in a new backdoor prime minister on Dec 31, 2023 went up in smoke.
To keep scamming pro-opposition gullible supporters with yet another false hope, pro-Perikatan Nasional bloggers and propagandists have now introduced a long list of new menu – 120 MPs who have lost faith in Anwar along with 4 Prime Minister candidates for the King to choose from. The desperate psychological warfare was nothing but the last naughty attempt to create havoc before a new King is sworn in.
However, there’re 10 reasons why not only Anwar cannot be toppled, but the list of 120 MPs is fake because the opposition does not have the numbers. In fact, the story is full of red flags that even though it is not newsworthy, it is both hilarious and entertaining for a weekend reading pleasure.
{ Reason 1: SD Is Not Worth The Paper It’s Printed On }
It appears that the sore losers still could not accept the reality that the Statutory Declaration (SD) was already obsolete when the anti-hopping law was gazetted on Sept 6, 2022. The SDs, allegedly signed the dubious 120 MPs to overthrow the Anwar administration, are said to have been sent to the King this week, and the monarch is expected to call each and every of the 120 MPs next week.
Was it not Muhyiddin who pulled the same stunt back in Nov 2022 after the 15th General Election, where he told all and sundry that Perikatan Nasional had 115 MPs supporting him as the 10th Prime Minister, but the Agong said that it was not enough? As a result, the stunned and dejected Muhyiddin threw tantrum and rejected the King’s proposal on forming a unity government.
If the King had decided to reject the SDs from 115 MPs previously, exactly why should the monarch accept the 120 MPs this round? Would not that make Sultan Abdullah looks like a fool? The anti-hopping law prevents lawmakers from jumping ship unless it is through en-bloc defection, meaning if UMNO president Zahid Hamidi doesn’t move, nothing moves.
{ Reason 2: Opposition Dares Not Use Simpler Method }
Between Oct 12 and Nov 28, 2023, five Bersatu MPs of Kuala Kangsar, Labuan, Gua Musang, Jeli and Bukit Gantang publicly declared support for Anwar government while insisting they remained loyal to the party – effectively bypassing a loophole in the anti-hopping law. Instead of signing SDs and wait for an interview with Agong, why can’t the 120 MPs do the same?
Yes, there’s a simpler method to overthrow PM Anwar. All the Perikatan Nasional bloggers, propagandists, cyber troopers and TikTokers should stop talking cock. What they need to do is to get the 120 MPs to parade themselves like in a beauty pageant and publicly announced their loss of confidence in the prime minister and voila, Mr Anwar Ibrahim will become the shortest serving prime minister.
{ Reason 3: Anwar Won Vote Of Confidence In Parliament }
Anwar, in order to prove that not only he is a legitimate prime minister, but also possessed the support of 148 MPs or two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Parliament, had courageously promised on the same day he was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister to table a motion of confidence, which he did and won on Dec 19, 2022. That’s a humiliation to Muhyiddin who claimed he had 115 MPs behind him.
The confidence vote is extremely important. Even if the King wants the PM to step down, it must be done democratically and legitimately in the Parliament through the same motion of confidence. Perikatan Nasional can always table a motion of no confidence against Anwar to test whether he still commands the majority support. The only reason it refuses to do so – they don’t have the numbers.
{ Reason 4: Agong Refuses To Be Scammed & Shamed Again }
Assuming the 120 MPs had signed 120 SDs, chances are the Palace will dump it into the dustbin. When Muhyiddin tried to use 115 SDs to demand that he be sworn in by King Sultan Abdullah on Nov 2022, the documents were ignored because the monarch realized it was another dirty trick, the same way Muhyiddin scammed the King back in March 2020.
On the eve of Muhyiddin’s swearing-in on March 1, 2020, Mahathir had claimed to have 114 votes. The former prime minister had even pre-emptively published the list of 114 MPs who supported him as the next prime minister, along with a letter to the Palace (at least 112 minimum seats required to form a simple-majority government in the 222-seat Parliament).
Muhyiddin, however, failed or refused to publish a list of Members of Parliaments allegedly supported him, but was sworn in by the monarch anyway (a mistake that would haunt the King). Muhyiddin’s legitimacy was questioned when he locked the Parliament under the pretext of fighting Covid-19. During his 17-month regime, the former backdoor PM had never dared to hold a motion of confidence to prove his legitimacy.
{ Reason 5: GPS Can’t Support Religious Bigot Perikatan Nasional }
In the dubious list of 120 MPs, the opposition propagandists claim that Perikatan Nasional commands the support from GPS’ (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) entire bloc of 23 MPs as well as every Tom, Dick and hamster in Sabah. If that’s true, GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg would not have met Anwar on Dec 22 last year, assuring the prime minister that GPS was not interested in overthrowing the current federal government
Post-15th national polls, Muhyiddin had misled GPS chairman Abang Johari into believing that 10 Barisan Nasional MPs will defect, only to be humiliated when Zahid denied UMNO-led Barisan Nasional supported Perikatan Nasional to form a federal government. But the biggest problem was when Abang Johari was grilled by angry members over GPS’ hastily endorsement for Muhyiddin.
The mutiny started after the Borneo state premier entered a pact with Perikatan Nasional despite knowing PAS Islamist party has spewed anti-Christianity – even promote racist hatred, xenophobia, and all forms of bigotry. Racist bigot Muhyiddin said Christians were working with Jews to Christianise Malaysia, while Hadi tried to radicalise people with violent Islamic extremism.
{ Reason 6: Split Over 4 Prime Minister Candidates }
Unlike the Sheraton Move, where traitor Muhyiddin was the only candidate named as prime minister, the opposition camp has now proposed 4 names – Mohamad Hasan (Tok Mat), Muhyiddin Yassin, Hishammuddin Hussein and Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar. This shows not only indecisiveness, even a split, over who should be the PM, but throwing enough mud at the wall with hope that some will stick.
Not that GPS cares or interested, but if none of Sarawak MPs get to be a prime minister candidate, why should they even support Perikatan Nasional? On the other hand, if the deputy prime minister is the best prize it would get, why should GPS switch sides when it has already received the recognition with the appointment of Fadillah Yusof as Deputy Prime Minister?
{ Reason 7: Backdoor Govt Is Unstable And Bad For Malaysia }
There isn’t a single compelling reason to rock the boat and return to the previous 33-month unstable backdoor government that had spooked the economy, investors, stock market and local currency. Despite forming the biggest Malay-Muslim government, Muhyiddin lasted only 17 months while Ismail broke the record to become the shortest serving prime minister – just 14 months.
After 5 Bersatu MPs defected to the Unity Government, PM Anwar enjoys support from 152 out of 222 MPs. That’s more than two-thirds majority. Do you really think the King is mad enough to commit harakiri by destroying a stable 152-majority unity government (which the monarch proposed himself) so that a 120-majority backdoor government can be formed again?
{ Reason 8: Mahathir Denies Involvement In Dubai Move }
Arguably, the biggest red flag that Perikatan Nasional does not have the number to overthrow Anwar government was the denial from Mahathir of his involvement in the Dubai Move. If the RM750 million was successfully smuggled to bribe MPs to defect, or if the 120 MPs are ready to jump ship, Mahathir did not need to explain himself till foaming at the mouth.
Another red flag was from PAS president Hadi Awang, who said the Islamist party won’t buy MPs to seize power. In truth, they don’t have the money to buy MPs because the biggest financier – Daim Zainuddin – has all his assets seized. Hadi, who proudly and shamelessly declared he was the prime mover behind the Sheraton Move in 2020, would be claiming credit again had the Dubai Move progressed well.
{ Reason 9: Malay Monarchs Offended By Perikatan Nasional }
During the previous backdoor regime, PAS had gone as far as conspiring with illegitimate PM Muhyiddin and fabricated the revocation of the emergency laws without the consent from the Palace, a move tantamount to usurping the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong – an act of waging war against the King, an offence that carries capital punishment – “death penalty”.
More importantly, the arrogant Muhyiddin and Hadi had betrayed, cheated, insulted, belittled and disrespected the royal households – from Sultan Selangor to Sultan Terengganu, and from Sultan of Perak to King Sultan Abdullah. Worse, Mahathir was the same prime minister whose dispute with the Malay Monarchs was a long-running feud that has lasted for over 40 years, stretching back as far as 1983.
{ Reason 10: Sultan Ibrahim Ready To Hunt All Corrupt People }
Last month, Sultan of Johor vowed to eradicate corruption in Malaysia as one of his key priorities when he is installed as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong in January 31, 2024. In an exclusive interview with The Straits Times Singapore, Sultan Ibrahim also suggested that the MACC report directly to the Agong (King), instead of to the Parliament as practiced now.
He said a key cause of political instability was “sour grapes” by those who lost the general election, obviously referring to Bersatu and PAS, two primary political parties of Perikatan Nasional. Promising to hunt all the corrupt people, the sultan said he will make sure to bring results – suggesting that unlike other Agongs, he will play an active role in combating corruption.
Like it or not, King Sultan Abdullah has no appetite to get his hands dirty with yet another political coup staged by power-hungry politicians. After working with four prime minister, he has voiced his hope that Anwar would be the last prime minister appointed under his rule. Even if the opposition has 120 SDs, which they don’t, the monarch will most likely ask them to test it in the Parliament, which they won’t.
Any attempt to destabilize the government will not go down well with new King Sultan Ibrahim. The story about having 120 MPs in the pocket is just hot air to throw a cat among the pigeons. It was part of psychological warfare to create nuisance in order to annoy the unity government, not to mention threatening national security by spooking foreign investors.
Source : Finance Twitter
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