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Political think tank supports Pakatan's minority govt instead of Dr M's non-partisan govt

KPRU claimed that a minority government under the leadership of Port Dickson MP and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is more practical compared to Dr Mahathir’s plans. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
KPRU claimed that a minority government under the leadership of Port Dickson MP and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is more practical compared to Dr Mahathir’s plans. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Political think tank the Institute of Political Studies for Change (KPRU) has voiced its support for a minority government under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition as opposed to a non-partisan government mooted by interim prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a press statement by its executive director Ooi Heng today, the research body claimed that a minority government under the leadership of Port Dickson MP and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is more practical compared to Dr Mahathir’s plans.

Ooi provided five points that he said made for a more practical solution when compared to Dr Mahathir’s proposal of a united, non-partisan administration.

“One: With the support of 92 MPs from PH 2.0 (PKR, DAP, Amanah) for Anwar, he should be given priority to form a minority government.

“Second: With that priority, PH 2.0 can receive support from other parties, especially from Sabah and Sarawak to sign a confidence and supply deal.

“Third: Following the agreement above, the PH 2.0 minority government can bring a motion of confidence for Anwar to be the prime minister in Parliament. The agreement means the parties who support the leadership of PH 2.0 minority government under Anwar as prime minister will continue supporting him when the motion of confidence is being challenged.

“Fourth: The agreement also means that those who signed their support will also support the Supplies Bill involving the country’s finances that is tabled by the PH 2.0 minority government under Anwar.

“Fifth: Following the success of a minority government, PH 2.0 can move forward and invite other parties to form a mixed government,” said Ooi.

Furthermore, he added that this would be a good time for Sabah and Sarawak political parties to throw their lot behind PH 2.0 in light of the amount of funding the two East Malaysia states have received from Putrajaya under PH rule recently.

He pointed out that Sabah had received RM53.4 million under PH when compared to RM26.7 million under Barisan Nasional (BN). Sarawak had received RM32 million when compared to RM16 million under BN.

However, Ooi also acknowledged that a minority government has never been formed in Malaysia but cited the United Kingdom as an example when it was governed by former prime minister Theresa May, whose Conservative Party only held 317 out of 650 Parliamentary seats.

The analyst observed that under the constitution, the priority to form a government should be given to Anwar who commands the most support out of all the federal lawmakers even though it did not hit the required 112 MPs to form a simple majority.

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