Will Umno's return signal political stability in Malaysia?

A heavy responsibility awaits the new PM

Editorial
Sin Chew Daily, Malaysia

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob faces a momentous responsibility. He not only needs to seek the cooperation of the opposition, but also to face the dissidents within his own camp (as he forms the Malaysian government).

First and foremost, he will have to try to consolidate his hold on power and liberate himself from the intervention of the "seniors" in his party, Umno, which is itself a very tough problem for him.

Second, he now enjoys the support of 114 MPs mainly from Umno, Bersatu, Parti Islam SeMalaysia and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). The deputy prime minister post alone is fiercely contested by Bersatu, Umno and GPS, not to mention dozens of other Cabinet positions.

We can understand that he will keep the last Cabinet largely unchanged, but to trim the size of the new Cabinet is easier said than done. We will see whether he means business when he delivers the speech on TV on Sunday.

Third, the ravaging coronavirus pandemic and economy are two huge headaches that confront the new Premier. As such, inviting the opposition to join in the government's effort to fight the virus and to revitalise the economy is a very wise strategy.

If the plan succeeds, he will win public approval for getting the right people to work with him for the well-being of the rakyat. And if it fails, at least he can drag the opposition down with him instead of taking all the blame himself.

A massive opportunity is now laid before Ismail Sabri.

As Malaysians have grown increasingly disgusted at political fights, he should have no problem sailing past the hurdles rather smoothly in the near term. Next, we will see how he is going to leave his mark in history as the country's ninth prime minister.

Umno redux

Editorial
Jakarta Post, Indonesia

In retrospect, the victory of the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition in 2018 now looks like a drawn-out denouement.

Not only did the political turnaround fail to bring about genuine changes in Malaysia, but all the coalition managed to do was to bide its time, and it failed to prevent the inevitable return of the grand old coalition of Umno to power. But this should not surprise us.

Malaysia is nothing if not a land of contradiction, the primary example being that it is a parliamentary democracy, yet its politics is some of the most personality-driven in the region.

The main reason is simply the result of a fractious relationship between senior politician Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

Despite its status as a modern nation-state, the country's political discourse is dominated by sectarianism based on religion and ethnicity. Political parties are mostly tied to religious identity, ethnicity and even region.The return of Umno is certainly a strong indication that the old way of doing things, marked by personality-driven politics and exploitation of religious and ethnic sentiments to remain in power, will persist.

It is understandable that Malaysians are tired, if not jaded, with how politics is going and, with Covid-19 continuing to take its toll on the population and the economy, it is certain that they desperately want to have stability.

Will change in Malaysia help contain the pandemic?

Editorial
The Statesman, India

As the ninth head of government, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will bring back the Malay-based Umno party to the vanguard. It is open to question whether Sabri's government will impart stability. Arguably, Malaysians will view his appointment under the same alliance "as nothing more than a game of musical chairs".

He was also the public face of the response to the pandemic, one that has been widely criticised. Malaysia reported a record 22,948 cases on Thursday and went worse a day later with 23,564 cases.

Public anger has grown in recent months over the administration's handling of the pandemic, with cases spreading at a record pace and hundreds of deaths each day despite extended lockdowns and a stepped-up vaccination programme.

Moves that led to checkmate

Philip Golingai
The Star, Malaysia

The maths for Prime Minister Ismail Sabri's ascension to the top post began with a solid 100 MPs behind him. To get the simple majority of 111 - out of 220 - MPs, he needed just 11 more MPs.

A few hours before midnight on the day before all 220 MPs had to submit statutory declarations on their choice of PM to Istana Negara, 14 MPs agreed to back Ismail Sabri.

The maths for the support for (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim is much fuzzier. The PKR president had previously claimed he had 105 MPs supporting him and only needed six more to become PM. The big question was, where were the six MPs Anwar needed going to come from? Another question was whether Anwar was now an obstacle to the opposition getting the numbers to form the government.

After Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned, Anwar and Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal tussled over who should be the opposition's PM candidate. Shafie said the gentleman's agreement was that whoever could win over the six MPs needed would be the sole candidate.

But neither Anwar nor Shafie could bring in the numbers. After messing up many chances to become PM since 1998, are Anwar's days as the opposition's potential candidate for the top job numbered? Will we see the rise of Shafie as the opposition's PM candidate in future?

Even with Ismail Sabri installed as Prime Minister, the politicking is not over. With just 114 MPs behind him, the Prime Minister has a slim buffer of only three MPs giving him the majority, keeping opposition hopes alive.