Is Muhyiddin the weakest of the eight Prime Ministers of Malaysia – weaker than Tun Abdullah Badawi?

Is Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin the weakest of the eight Prime Ministers of Malaysia – weaker than Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawai, the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia?

This thought came to me when I read of the call by the PAS Plantation and Commodities Minister, Khairuddin Aman Razali for the permanent closure of pubs and nightclubs in Malaysia.

I do not think Khairuddin would have survived as a Cabinet Minister under any other Prime Minister in Malaysia after violating the Covid 19 quarantine SOP after his personal visit to Turkey on July 7, the lies that was told in particular about Turkey at the time was a “green zone” when it was an epicentre of the Covid 19 pandemic, and his attempt to make light his breach by claiming that he did not do anything wrong in regard to his job and that it involved only an error over the issue of the Covid-19 SOPs.

Such remarks exposed the fitness of Khairuddin to be a Minister of a Government fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had been worried about the failure of leadership in countries fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, which was why he had said: “We call on country leaders to mobilize their plans, coordinating every part of government, not just the health ministry – security, diplomacy, finance, commerce, transport, trade, information and more – the whole government should be involved” and “We're concerned that in some countries the level of political commitment and the actions that demonstrate that commitment don't match the level of the threat we all face. This is NOT a drill NOT the time to give up NOT a time for excuses This is a time for pulling out all the stops!”

Does the PAS Minister understand the concerns of Dr. Tedros?

In expressing his support for the Prime Minister in the banning on pubs and nightclubs, was the PAS Minister trying to “up the ante” to mould the image of the Muhyiddin government after the PAS image!

In the first place, did Muhyiddin announce the banning of pubs and nightclubs?

I have checked the text of the speech of the Prime Minister at the Kuala Lumpur convention in conjunction with Perikatan Nasional’s half-year in power (boycotted by UMNO) available on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office, and found that there was no reference to any ban on pubs and nightclubs in Muhyiddin’s speech.

During his delivery, Muhyiddin did say that that businesses except for pubs and nightclubs would be allowed to be open.

Was Muhyiddin serious or speaking in jest.

Why didn’t he clarify the matter although it caused anguish and dismay to distraught musicians and nightclubs owners as well as the statement by the Federation of Malaysian Entertainment Industry president Liew Poon Siak?

Is his silence, now that Khairuddin has spoken up in favour of permanent ban on pubs and nightclubs, highlights another aspect of his political weakness as Prime Minister – and his preparedness to cast his government in the PAS mould just to keep his government and Prime Minister aspiration alive?