Press Statement
21 August 2021

Ismail Sabri Must Now Do What Muhyiddin Didn’t Do, Test His Confidence in Parliament

I would first like to congratulate Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob for becoming the ninth Prime Minister of our beautiful nation.

The job he has been tasked with is arduous, especially with the Covid-19 onslaught that is still ripping through the fabric of our society.

Ismail has a brilliant opportunity to be immediately better than his predecessor; he must test his confidence in Parliament as requested by the King.

Although asked many times by the opposition, former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin failed to test his majority in Parliament and closed down Parliament when it suited him. That fear assured that he would never join the leagues of former Prime Ministers Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who upon taking the reins from the sitting Prime Minister, tested their support in parliament immediately.

During his 17 months as Prime Minister, Muhyiddin never tested his majority in Parliament fearing that support for him was too shaky

Hussein Onn tested his majority within 11 days and Ahmad Badawi did it in three days. These fine gentlemen embraced the sanctity of Parliament and were not afraid to test their support.

Unfortunately what we had with Muhyiddin was a Prime Minister that was afraid of testing his majority after the Sheraton Move, because his support was shaky and filled with conditions.

These conditions were the prime focus of the Perikatan Nasional government which resulted in the failure to govern the nation properly.

Kerajaan Gagal graffiti spotted along Malacca River that has since been cleaned up

We are now left with the highest daily Covid-19 cases ever recorded in the country, high unemployment especially among the youth, FDIs that have halved, high number of businesses that shut down, and the downgrade of the middle class to B40.

Muhyiddin was a shambolic Prime Minister.

Ismail should seize the opportunity as soon as next week to be immediately more credible than Muhyiddin.

Ismail should also set out a clear road map on how he will lead Malaysians out of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

M. Kula Segaran
MP for Ipoh Barat