Written By : Sandru
PETALING JAYA: Pundits have dismissed the possibility that Umno will be harmed by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s pact with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders.
This is despite the party’s official stand against working with DAP and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and former academic Azmi Hassan told FMT, Umno might even gain from Ismail’s gesture to the opposition.
Ismail is an Umno vice-president.
Oh said the statement Ismail issued jointly with the heads of PKR, DAP and Amanah yesterday had given him the image of a statesman.
“I don’t think it hurts Umno at all. When Umno says ‘no Anwar, no DAP’, what it means is sharing power with them,” he said.
He said yesterday’s joint statement could be seen as Ismail’s initiative to co-opt the opposition into his so-called Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) concept. “So it’s a win for Umno.”
Azmi said Umno’s ‘no Anwar, no DAP’ stand was unaffected by the pact because it did not mean that PH would be in the new administration.
“it won’t have any negative impact on Umno,” he said.
He agreed with Oh that the joint statement had put Ismail in a positive light.
But Oh also said it would be far-fetched to say the statement signalled the emergence of a new brand of politics since Ismail had yet to put his own house in order. This task would include settling Umno’s relations with Bersatu, he said.
Azmi said he hoped the opposition would, without imposing conditions, accept Ismail’s offer of membership in the National Recovery Council and the Covid-19 special task force.
Political scientist Wong Chin Huat noted that no prime minister after Abdul Razak Hussein had officially sat down with opposition leaders to discuss how to collaborate on national governance.
“Ismail is making his first step to materialise his approach of Keluarga Malaysia in politics,” he said.
“I expect him and the opposition to negotiate on a CSA (confidence and supply agreement). If they can reach something by this weekend, then we should give him and the opposition leaders a big applause.”
Wong also said the new administration’s most important task was to extend its life until a general election could be called.
“If working with PH without giving it ministerial posts can protect Ismail or Umno from the blackmailing of Bersatu or others, then Umno will not hesitate to drop the ‘no Anwar, no DAP’ line. This is a strategy for power, not a principle of ideology.”
Syed Arabi Idid of the International Islamic University said he believed the opposition was responding to the public’s call for the country’s leaders to focus on overcoming Covid-19.
He said the indication of goodwill would help PH score some points while boosting the new prime minister’s standing.
