Why Perikatan cabinet is a rebel government?
Why should we be softer in our approach on these rebel MPs and immoral trading politicians when they have been harsh towards the people by betraying our mandates?
In our opinion, the term rebel should not be concluded as an occasion that came with armed revolt or struggle that saw a legitimate or elected government overthrown. The term rebel also refers to passive revolt that took place in an unacceptable venue or a political plot was hatched to destabilised an elected government or plot hatched outside the parliament with the intention to take over from an elected government, whereby in the Perikatan’s case, we saw them fit into such political circumstances.
In a normal English dictionary, the term rebel or rebellion refers to one of the definition which we in opinion saw it fit into Perikatan’s character, that is to refuse allegiance to an elected or established government (established by Pakatan Harapan in aftermath of their 14th general election victory) or to resist or defy an authority or a generally accepted convention (honouring a convention as agreed by the Pakatan Harapan coalition of political parties consist of Amanah, PKR, DAP and Bersatu then).
The term rebel also comes with a softer definition, that is to express strong unwillingness or repugnance. This proves that the term comes with numerous kind of definition but in the end of the day, it is still a rebellion. Whether it is organised in a passive or aggressive manner is another question. Same goes to another term coup d’etat, it does not have to be through an armed revolt. A coup d’etat can also happened within a ruling political party itself or another fact, within the government itself. There are also many more terms i.e. coup, revolt, ousting, overthrow, takeover, deposition, it depends on the political circumstances.
In the case of why and how did the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government collapsed towards the end of February 2020, it can be clearly seen prior to the event that there was indeed a plot being hatched to ensure the ousting of the PH government is successful.
We all must remember that a mass political gathering hosted by 11 MPs allied to Azmin Ali faction and a large group of Bersatu MPs lead by its party president Muhyiddin Yasin was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya with the intention of putting into a discussion the formation of a new governing coalition. The alleged discussion was later joined by many top leaders from the then opposition Umno and PAS, at the same hotel.
Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad then send in his resignation on 24 February citing that he could not agree with the Bersatu president’s plan to bring the party out of PH coalition in collaboration with Azmin Ali’s 11 MPs, together with Umno and PAS in order to establish an alternative government.
Knowing that they will not be supported by Mahathir anymore, Bersatu MPs, Azmin Ali’s 11 MP, together with MPs from Umno and PAS proceed to hatched a plot in the Sheraton Hotel at Petaling Jaya to unseat the current PH government from Putrajaya.
Here you are! A plot was hatched by Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs, Umno and PAS to unseat an elected government was held in a privately owned hotel in Selangor. Majority of the Bersatu MPs and Azmin’s 11 MPs rebelled against the PH by withdrawing from the then governing coalition which resulted to its “collapse”.
The question here is, if Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs, Umno and PAS wanted to establish an alternative government by unseating the elected PH government, why didn’t they call for a special parliamentary sitting to move a motion of no-confidence against the PH coalition but instead organised their so-called “parliamentary sitting” in the Sheraton Hotel at Petaling Jaya?
This situation has its similarities with the coup d’etat in the Perak state which saw the collapse of its state administration following the defection of the 3 Pakatan Rakyat state assemblymen which was announced in a “state assembly sitting” held in the Perak Umno headquarters in February 2009 then.
So, from here, it is very clear fact that the attempt to change or unseat the then elected PH government initiated by Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs, Umno and PAS did not take place in parliament where it supposed to be (to put in place a motion of no-confidence against the PH coalition).
Thereby, the newly established Perikatan cabinet which is now consist of by Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs (later accepted into Bersatu), Umno and PAS (later joined by MCA, MIC and GPS) cannot be considered as a legitimate government even though all their ministers had taken their oath of office because such changes failed to take place in a constitutional manner, that is through the parliament (by presenting its motion of no-confidence, debating the motion and putting it to vote). Taking their oath of office is merely a technical matter, as anyone can also take their oath of anything or anywhere, asides office.
Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs, Umno and PAS obtained the seat of governance by way of conducting their own “parliamentary sitting” in a private hotel which was already contravened the whole parliamentary process. Such undertaking was therefore considered a rebellion, when they established a new cabinet, it is thereby considered a rebel government because the parliamentary process and proceedings were totally bypassed. This is also a grave insult to our nation’s legislature as a whole.
If Bersatu, Azmin’s 11 MPs, Umno and PAS wants to legitimise their rebel government, they only options is either to call for a special parliamentary sitting to test their vote of confidence or to call for a snap election to legitimise their votes of support from the electorates.
The biggest problem in our nation today is there already too many immoral politicians around us and they are ready to be traded like some kind of commodity offering the bodily price to the highest bidder.
These immoral politicians are indeed afraid of a fair legislature proceeding because they do not even have any worth or strength in themselves, preferring to trade off their positions and the people’s mandates for cash.
