Let
no evil men ever attempt to hijack a duly elected government from the
people, ever again.
Here are Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s 10 mortal sins which I find unforgivable.
Now,
we know why Muhyiddin was not really an active Harapan player after the
opposition coalition’s historic victory in May 2018. Muhyiddin chose to
sulk after he was not given the finance portfolio which he requested
from Dr Mahathir Mohamad. This was revealed by Mahathir himself.
I
cannot recall any significant contribution from Muhyiddin during
Harapan’s 22 months in federal power, even if we leave out the few
months he was on medical leave.
He was a mere “passenger”, to the best of my knowledge.
History
will not remember Muhyiddin kindly. By his association with Harapan
traitors such as the most vilified Azmin Ali, Muhyiddin’s name will be
tainted forever.
Muhyiddin, Azmin, and their fellow traitors are
so infamous for their deeds that their names have become synonymous with
treachery.
For a good part of 2019 during Harapan’s rule,
Muhyiddin was more involved in hatching his plan of betrayal rather than
helping Harapan to govern.
Muhyiddin, “we know what you did last summer”. Yes, we do.
After
he arbitrarily declared that Bersatu had left the Harapan coalition on
Feb 23 last year which effectively caused the collapse of the
government, Muhyiddin finally exposed the evil and treachery inside him
that was not known to many in Harapan then.
Today,
the past has returned to haunt him. Malaysians will never forgive
Muhyiddin for forcing his way in to become the prime minister via the
backdoor.
4. First white lie of many
“Oh,
I did not aspire to become prime minister. I have to take up the post
only after Mahathir had resigned in order to save Malaysia”. Talking of
one lying through his teeth.
Muhyiddin is only a very typical,
ordinary politician who sustains his political career by spinning grand
tales and white lies. Let me say it again – this man is no PM material;
he never was.
So, Muhyiddin said he never wanted to be prime
minister. Well, DAP’s Liew Chin Tong will know for sure Muhyiddin was
telling the first of possibly his many white lies as prime minister.
Liew
has revealed that Muhyiddin had asked for DAP’s support to be the prime
minister candidate before GE14. Liew has no reason to lie on this.
5. Bloated cabinet and buying frogs
A
total of 72 ministers and deputy ministers – Muhyiddin would just
appoint anyone to the cabinet, never mind their qualifications,
suitability, or integrity. Appointing a donkey to head a ministry and
being assisted by two monkeys is also okay, it seems.
Not only
that. He also appointed a coterie of his political friends to head GLCs
and to lucrative positions across many statutory bodies and educational
boards.
Muhyiddin would make sure anyone who matters to his
survival as prime minister will be given a post. When the ministerial
posts ran out, he would appoint them as his special advisers or
Malaysia’s special envoys abroad.
Worse, he would make sure that his administration is open to buying political frogs and they would be handsomely rewarded.
It
was during Muhyiddin’s premiership that the despicable “frog culture”
was as openly and shamelessly blatant as it possibly could be.
6. Schemer behind Sabah state election
Hamzah
Zainudin, known as Muhyiddin’s errand boy No 2 after Azmin, had his
work cut out for him as Bersatu secretary-general and home minister.
He
should know how former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman managed to
wriggle his way out of his many court tussles and later, triggered the
Sabah elections and the downfall of the Warisan state government.
Muhyiddin
must be held responsible for the second deadly Covid-19 wave that
emerged after the Sabah polls. Within the first month, more than 150
Sabahans died. Almost a year later, about 1,000 had lost their lives in
Sabah.
Muhyiddin and his henchmen chose political power and expediency over the lives of Malaysians.
This brings us to No 7.
7. Total failure in tackling Covid-19
In
all fairness to Muhyiddin, he has conceded that the government was
caught unprepared with the onslaught of the coronavirus. This is the
case with many other governments as well.
But
what is unacceptable is the many U-turns in managing the pandemic, the
haphazard SOPs, the poor vaccination rollout coupled with alleged sleazy
deals, and the overall poor handling of the health crisis with
overlapping decisions made by different ministers.
With
more than 1,400,000 infections, almost 12,500 fatalities, and being one
of the worst affected countries in the world, this is not only about not
being acceptable but that it should never have happened.
8. Economic sector in limbo
The
economic sector has been in limbo, yet we have a finance minister
trying to paint a picture as if everything is fine when it is not.
This
is the sheer incompetency of a government with no strong leadership nor
a clear direction. The Covid-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the
Malaysian economy and the sooner we realise that and do something about
it, the better it will be for the nation.
While the public
appreciates the loan moratorium and welfare packages, they are only
temporary solutions. Economic recovery is what we need in the long term.
The
finance minister must work in tandem with all to formulate policies
that will help Malaysians through this challenging period, the small and
medium-sized enterprises, and underprivileged families in particular.
9. Disrespect for royalty
This is something unprecedented. Muhyiddin has surrounded himself with advisers but they do not seem to be competent people.
For the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to publicly tick off the de facto law minister for “lying in Parliament” is not something we hear every day.
After that, we heard of another minister (a woman this time) trying to teach the king the proper procedures to act like the king. What?
Hello Muhyiddin, we wonder whether you have told that known cocky minister of yours how to accord His Majesty proper respect?
As it turned out, whatever we may think of the monarchy here, it pays to have the king and his brother rulers on your side.
10. Being paloi (stupid) and not seeing the end coming
Oh yes, being paloi, bodoh, and stupid is also a mortal sin - you cannot afford to be paloi when you are the prime minister. Not in my book, at least.
There
were four occasions over the past three months when I cautioned
Muhyiddin in this column that he could well be the shortest Malaysian
prime minister and that his end was near.
On May 26, I expressed my sympathy
with the prime minister when he said he was prepared to take abuse from
the public amid frustration over measures against Covid-19, including
people calling him “stupid”.
I
wrote that I believe Muhyiddin was sincere in his statement, “but we
can’t have a ‘paloi’ PM now”. No, we need a smart, intelligent leader.
On
June 20, I warned the prime minister that when the Agong and the Malay
rulers are no longer seen to be on your side, then you have a very serious issue at hand.
This
was after the king made it clear that the emergency will not extend
beyond Aug 1 and that Parliament should reopen as soon as possible.
Again on July 6, I warned the prime minister: “If Muhyiddin Yassin does not step down voluntarily, he might be unceremoniously removed. Either way will spell the end of the PN government”.
Finally,
on July 11, I chastised the prime minister after he promoted two of his
cabinet ministers, saying that “while Malaysians are dying and fighting
for hospital beds, the prime minister is playing musical chairs within his cabinet and promoting his “undeserving” ministers.”
This is where Muhyiddin and his PN government have failed and failed miserably.
And
this is why it is becoming clearer that he would probably be Malaysia’s
shortest-serving prime minister of only 17 tumultuous months.
