LETTER | Who should be our next PM?

LETTER | This is the 32-million dollar question that most Malaysians are asking today.

Like many Malaysians out there today, I am a very angry and frustrated person.  

The first rule on addressing any crisis (local politics, pandemic or any major issue) is to be able to see the strategic big picture or “see the forest for the trees”.

As an example, the whole country seems to be so submerged and literally “drowning” inside the pandemic. 

Like what is happening in many countries today, we are behaving like zombies or having the herd mentality of following our leaders blindly without asking any probing questions.

It is easy to be arm-chair critics of the government. There is nothing wrong with criticising the government, especially for the opposition politicians. 

But no leaders or political parties have so far, come out with an innovative, workable, transparent and comprehensive solution on how we can end the pandemic in a sustainable manner. 

And how we can turn the economy around, by, for example, focusing on our existing strengths and assets and why there is no need, for now, to invest our scarce resources in new areas or re-invent the wheel.

Why there are so few leaders who are able to stand out in addressing the root causes of all our problems today?

On who should be the next prime minister, the focus seems to be on the cold numbers game, horse-trading and politicking going on now. 

In a way, this partly explains the social and political malaise that our country is in today.

So far, the analyses and comment pieces are focusing only on competency, leadership skills, power-base support, numbers game and promises made in the past.

Yet the most important quality or factor to be the PM seems to be missing.

It is about integrity.

Integrity is the most important piece lacking in our local political power struggle and that is why our country is also in such a mess today.

Contrary to common misconceptions, integrity, which is not absolute of course, is a lot more than honesty. 

It is also about accountability, trust and taking responsibility for one’s action. It is also about justice and being fair to all.

A leader cannot claim to have integrity if he or she is being unjust or practicing double standards.

Yes, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can appoint an MP who in his sole or absolute discretion that he (king) believes is able to command a simple majority of Parliament.

But in the current political mess, with so many inter and intraparty factions vying for power, and with no MP having shown to have secured a simple majority of at least 111 MP of a total of 220 MPs, the king can always choose an MP with the great amount of integrity and he can reason that with such an MP, he or she would have the highest chance of securing the support from a majority of MPs and holding the country together, at least until GE15.

Once the Agong has chosen an MP to be the next PM and unless the MP concerned is very controversial or scandal-ridden, we can expect a majority of the MPs to close ranks to support the decision of the king and to show their loyalty to the king and country.

There are only two statesman-like politicians who are MPs. One of them has indicated his preference to lead a National Recovery Council. 

The other MP, by the sheer misfortune of not being in the government for a long time, has the proven integrity and competence to be the next PM. He (an economist) also has a solution on how to end the pandemic and how to quickly turn the economy around.

Another option is for these two statesmen to quickly work out a deal and make a case to the king that they are able to work together and unite and hold the country together, at least until GE15.

The writer is an independent corporate and political analyst on local and international issues for over 35 years. He is also the founder of think-tank Covid Research Centre, under the Asian Heritage Museum Grou.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.