KUALA LUMPUR —Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a special address yesterday, had offered bipartisan and gave a golden opportunity to all the opposition parties to join the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government in managing and battling Covid-19 pandemic, and at the same time stop the political turmoil that is not helping the nation in solving the pandemic and economic crisis which are gripping the nation.
Muhyiddin, who submitted himself for a vote of confidence in Parliament in September, expressed his willingness to work with all parties outside of PN.
Muhyiddin said if the opposition party recognizes bipartisan there will be a more stable government and the country will focus on managing the pandemic in a more effective way.
He also announced that the general election will be before or in July next year, after the country achieved the herd immunity and contained the coronavirus.
Immediately after his speech, the opposition parties and Umno MPs who withdrew support for Muhyiddin took to social media criticizing and rejecting the Prime Minister offer and demanding him to step down now.
Opposition party, Pakatan Harapan (PH), and Umno President Ahmed Zahid Hamidi said the offer was a clear admission that Muhyiddin lost the majority in parliament and they vowed they will not consider his bipartisan offer.
However, the question raised today is- What if no party prove it has majority support?
Anwar has not yet proven he has majority support. He can get majority or simple majority only if Umno MPs who withdrew support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin joined him.
According to political analyst Dr Azmi Hassan, Umno`s grassroots are not willing to support Anwar to become Prime Minister. Umno President himself stressed that his party will not work with PKR and DAP or support Anwar.
DAP, who has many MPs in the PH coalition, is also clearly rejecting to support Umno or work with it.
Its National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua, in a Facebook post today, urged his colleagues in PH and the Opposition to give “full consideration” to the offer made by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on bipartisan cooperation if the PH coalition does not have the majority in the Dewan Rakyat, as it was reported by Malay Mail.
“Let us now count the potential benefits to the rakyat — we end the political turmoil and impasse; we block the return of the kleptocrats (UMNO); and we prevent a general election in the middle of the pandemic.
This means that DAP is also not willing to support Umno to form a new government, and the other way around.
“My view is, if we cannot secure a majority for our Opposition Leader, we must give the offer by Muhyiddin full consideration,” said Tony Pua, adding that the opposition MPs must agree to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister and listen to his offer.
