Barely a day after Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri was sworn in as Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister – the third Prime Minister in 3 years – the Members of Parliament (MPs) and leaders that supported him to the post have already found something to disagree with each other.
So what’s the thing that they’re not seeing eye to eye on? The name of the new government. Seriously?
While the new government has yet to be officially named, some quarters, especially from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has argued that while the Prime Minister has been changed, this is still virtually the same government headed by former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and should continue to be labelled as Perikatan Nasional.
However, as reported by The Star, Umno Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said that this new government is no longer a Perikatan Nasional government and should not be called so. Instead, Ahmad Maslan claims that this new government would be a mixed government comprising of Barisan Nasional(BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Parti Bersatu Sarawak (PBS).
Umno Secretary-General, Ahmad bin Maslan.
In a Facebook post, the Umno Secretary-General stressed,
“This new government to me is not a Perikatan Nasional government but a ‘Kerajaan Malaysia’ (Malaysian government) consisting of BN, PN, GPS and PBS. This is a mixed government,”
Umno Supreme Council Member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan shared Ahmad Maslan’s sentiments and claimed that with Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister, the PN government has officially come to an end.
Abdul Rahman Dahlan further commented,
“Even before this, BN was not a component member of PN. The former administration was a combination of Barisan, Perikatan, PBS and GPS and not a Perikatan government. I don’t know who simply labelled the former government as a Perikatan government,”
It is believed that the Umno Supreme Council Member is criticising former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement after Ismail Sabri’s appointment as his successor in which he suggested that the new government to still be a PN government. In the statement, Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu Chairman said that Ismail Sabri would continue to help the Perikatan Nasional government to deliver the best service to the people, especially during a period of national recovery.
MP for Gombak, Azmin Ali.
Furthermore, former Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali also called this new government a PN government during his congratulatory message to Ismail Sabri. Azmin Ali was quoted to have said,
“I believe that Ismail Sabri would continue to lead the PN government with the focus of handling the pandemic as well as reviving the economy.”
Furthermore, as reported by Free Malaysia Today, Bersatu Deputy President Dato’ Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu also insisted that Ismail’s government is still a PN government. Faizal argued as such due to the majority of MPs that are supporting Ismail Sabri are from PN (50) when BN only has only 41 MPs.
He further asserted,
“To us, this is a PN government. Our friends on the other side (BN) have 41… We believe we represent a PN government,”
What do you guys think of this quarrel over a government’s name from both sides? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob Takes Oath As Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister
