LETTER: Umno's Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan have something in common.
All three are facing various graft-related and money-laundering charges in court. They were also instrumental behind opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's confident march to Putrajaya to grab power, but to no avail.
The latest is that Members of Parliament from Umno were said to be confused by Najib's group over a sudden move to question the Emergency Proclamation by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong last Tuesday.
They were said to have received a letter from Ahmad, asking them to support a petition to the King to direct parliament to convene a sitting as soon as possible. Many saw it as a flip-flop because the party's political bureau had decided last week not to oppose the emergency order out of respect and loyalty to the King.
Ahmad is said to have stated that the parliament sitting was to defend the constitution and the rights of the people but many within the party see it as another numbers game by Najib's group.
This followed Anwar's recent disclosure of his letter-writing campaign to the palace to petition the King to revoke the emergency and call for a parliament sitting.
Najib, Zahid and Ahmad seem to have aptly followed in Anwar's footsteps. Their political charades and conjectures to remove the Perikatan Nasional government under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, whom Najib had kicked out as his deputy over the 1MDB scandal in 2015, have been non-stop.
Last year, Najib was found guilty of corruption in the first of several cases linked in the alleged theft of billions of ringgit from the state fund 1MDB.
All these three MPs (Najib-Pekan, Ahmad Zahid-Bagan Datuk and Ahmad-Pontian) do not seem to want to stop from making party members and Barisan Nasional coalition of which Umno is one of the component parties, more confused and bewildered with their political stunts and maneuverings.
They keep losing focus on party's stance – No Anwar, No DAP. One moment, they would declare loudly that Umno would never work together with Anwar nor DAP but minutes later, they would not let go their handshakes with the Pakatan Harapan leader, surreptitiously behind party's back.
In October, the trio were said to have signed a letter to the palace, informing that Umno will support Anwar as the new prime minister.
On Oct 13, Anwar had an audience with the King to show him that he had "formidable, convincing majority" in the Dewan Rakyat to form a new government to replace prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The palace, however, on the same day, stated that Anwar had only given numbers but no list of names.
The King had advised him to follow the legal process as stated in the Federal Constitution.
Clearly, they don't seem to have learned from such an embarrassment and "hilarious episode" if Anwar's letter-writing campaign to the palace is anything to go by. Indeed, their political entrapments never fail to be such an amusement.
But, the one where MPs were told to petition the King to summon Parliament to discuss the emergency proclamation, is, indeed, disrespectful and grossly erroneous.
It is deemed insolent, disloyalty and treasonous by many, including party members themselves, particularly Tan Sri Annuar Musa. Annuar who was recently removed by Ahmad Zahid as BN secretary-general for being too defensive with the present's government policies, had slammed Umno of conspiring with its political rivals, Anwar and DAP who had previously asked for the same thing to be done by MPs.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the motives of these Umno and opposition MPs who wanted a general election to be held in the midst of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic. They are blabbering the obvious.
As Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said – the judiciary will continue to be the beacon of justice in our country and the government will never interfere in the business of the court.
Those MPs with cases pending in court should take a break from incessant politicking and instead focus on the charges they have been slapped with.
People are still suffering from Covid-19 and in a few states, flooding. There is no time to waste to help them. Politicians should do their part. Do rakyat a favour - stop politicking and help the people.
SUZANNE DOL ABDULLAH
Bukit Antarabangsa, Selangor
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times