Wednesday's parliamentary voting fiasco looks set to have more twists and turns than a well-played Nokia game of Snake.
On Wednesday, the accusation levelled by ruling-party Umno was that the opposition had gone against the bipartisan memorandum of understanding (MoU) by not supporting a government motion. Therefore, Umno concluded, the MoU had been broken and the government was no longer obliged to withhold the general election until August.
The opposition bit back on Thursday with the argument that nearly 30 government members of parliament (MPs) had been absent during the vote, and thus, the motion's failure stemmed from the government.
Acknowledging this, the member from Padang Rengas opined that the absence of so many government MPs for its own bill meant that the government had lost the confidence of the House, and therefore, the country ought to go to the polls, immediately.
Yesterday, the home minister, who sponsored the bill, bitterly lamented this act of sabotage from his own side, claiming he could name the members that walked out just when the bloc vote was to be taken.
So, what started out as an accusation of the government having been played by the opposition, now seemingly transpires to be the government having been played by its own side, with the likely innocent assistance of the opposition.
Umno's eagerness to trigger a snap general election is understandable, given its belief that its popularity is strongest now, and it would, therefore likely win big if the country were to go to the polls soon.
In a system where the prime minister holds the power to call an election by requesting a dissolution from the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, it would technically be easy to have snap elections at a time that is deemed advantageous to the incumbent side.
In Umno's case however, the prime minister is loath to do so, owing to being bound by the MoU, for which he was the primary co-signee, and not to mention internal party issues. The move to demonstrate the alleged lack of confidence in the government is, therefore, not surprising. However, such an underhanded method is deplorable, as there are legitimate ways of doing so, like tabling a motion of no confidence.
The Padang Rengas MP said it was the practice in Britain, for instance, that losing on its own motion constitutes a show of no-confidence in the government. However, in Britain, such a thing — called a double dissolution — would only be triggered if the House of Commons and the Senate were repeatedly at odds over a particular bill. That is not what happened here.
The opposition has said that if a motion of no confidence was to be tabled, as per the MoU agreement, the opposition would abstain and leave it to government MPs to carry or drop the motion.
The snap polls prerogative, and the machinations that come with it, keeps an unstable political situation on tenterhooks and this is not healthy for the nation. MPs ought to be able do their job without having the sword of a snap dissolution hanging over their heads.
So, as Britain did in 2011, perhaps it is time that Malaysia considers a fairer system by implementing a fixed-term parliament, where there is a default fixed election date, known to all, years in advance. Coupled with the soon-to-be-tabled Anti-Party Hopping Bill, that would be a real reform worth voting for.