Equal allocation for all MPs most welcome and hope it will usher in a more consultative and inclusive political democratic system in Malaysia

I welcome the announcement by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions), Mastura Mohd Yazid in Parliament today that both government and opposition MPs will be given equal allocation for the final four months of this year for their parliamentary constituencies.

She said that this move was in line with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri’s commitment to implement the transformation of Parliament.

I see this as a positive sign that the confidence-supply-reform (CSR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) might succeed despite the gloomy forecast of many that there are no chance of its succeeding.

This is not because Ismail Sabri is a reformer but because he was forced by political circumstances to institute reform or he might end up, like the UMNO Parliamentary Whip Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said a “30-day Prime Minister”, or if longer, still the Prime Minister with the shortest tenure, shorter than Muhyiddin Yassin’s 17 months.

In the 10 days since the signing of the CSR MOU between Ismail Sabri and the Pakatan Harapan leaders, several government commitments have already started to be implemented.

It is irrelevant to Pakatan Harapan whether Ismail Sabri becomes a 30-day Prime Minister or the Prime Minister with the shortest tenure.

What we want is a political ceasefire or moratorium for the next 10 to 18 months so that Malaysians can concentrate every ounce of their energy and time on resolving the Covid-19 pandemic and reset institutional and parliamentary reforms to make Malaysia a world-class great nation.

We cannot allow the existential threat of the Covid-19 pandemic to continue a single day, as we have retrogressed to become the world’s worst performing nation in the Covid-19 pandemic, accumulating over two million Covid-19 cases and suffering nearly 25,000 Covid-19 deaths, losing to China and even to India and Indonesia.

This is why we must explain the CSR MOU to all Malaysians and why all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, have a vested interest to ensure the success of the CSR MOU.

We must make the CSR MOU the MOU of the people of Malaysia.

If the CSR MOU fails, we must ensure that it is not because of the failure of the PH parties and leaders to fulfill their commitments, but because of the inability of Ismail Sabri to create a consensus to make the CSR MOU work.