One of Mahiaddin’s key UMNO cheerleaders (a well-rewarded minister naturally), Annuar Musa, came out with a very strange statement yesterday – one that casts concern over the entire democratic process of events in Malaysia.

The opposition parties and the majority of his own having united in expressing condemnation of the haughty and dismissive public put downs of the King by a minority Prime Minister (who had put off a requested vote of no confidence yet again) Annuar smugly claimed that the two men have a ‘Special Relationship’ that would appear to allow such defiant conduct.

This according to the Government official news agency Bernama:

“Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa has described Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s relationship with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah as ‘special’.

He said the prime minister always started the Cabinet meeting by conveying His Majesty’s decree which includes reprimands, thus debunking the accusations of some quarters that the prime minister was a ‘traitor’.

“This week alone, Muhyiddin was granted an audience by His Majesty three times, namely when there was confusion over the amendment to the Emergency Ordinance on July 28, before the Cabinet meeting on July 29, and today.”

Mahiaddin appears to have had his weekly meeting with the King whom he claims has acceded to his outrageous plan to put off a vote of No Confidence for several weeks until ‘September’ despite the political crisis and the pandemic. On past record the world knows that he will try to put it off further if he continues to realise that he will lose it.

It is behaviour without precedent in the history of parliamentary democracy, and a flagrant defiance of the rules of legitimacy which clearly state that the moment a prime minister has lost a majority in the House a vote must be called without delay. This was why the Rulers and the King had insisted on Parliament being called last week, which Mahiaddin slammed shut to avoid a reckoning.

Thirty six hours later not a word has emerged from the Palace to confirm or deny these claims by the prime minister that the King is in agreement (the last time the prime minister spoke for the palace it turned out to be a lie).

Instead, there has been this strange statement of Annuar Musa signalling the closeness of the two men in a manner that would appear to breach their constitutional duties. It is not for the prime minister to consider he has a special right to tick off the King in a way others would consider disrespectful and it is not for the King to allow a prime minister special favours or ‘extra time’ to attempt to round up support once support is demonstrated to have been lost.

Yet the longer the silence continues the more the doubts must grow and questions begin to build. What underpins this ‘Special Relationship’? Why does the Agong apparently so prefer this man, whom he unaccountably placed in office back in early 2020 after not one MP put him forward as their candidate to lead?

Why do Mahiaddin and his co-conspirators and defectors from the PH government feel so smugly entitled to put the Palace in its place when admonished for lies and unconstitutional behaviour?

Indeed, why did Mahiaddin originally fly to Johor for meetings with the King’s brother-in-law Sultan and his son just days before the so-called Sheraton Move that triggered the events that saw the backdoor coup against the elected government of 2018?

Ultimately, is there an arrangement that allows this Prime Minister to consider himself safe from the requirements of the constitution and from the concerns of the King and his fellow rulers?

If there is no such ‘Special Relationship’ and matters have been conducted properly, if not entirely successfully, then protocol should be restored. The palace should make its position clear and it should consult with those opposition leaders who now clearly command a majority over the prime minister to see whether an alternative leadership presents itself.

Parliament should also be re-called as quickly as possible in an attempt to restore a credible government to the country now in crisis – as daily the disaffection from PN grows and daily the infections from the pandemic climb higher.

The excuse of Covid is unacceptable in the case of Parliament. The danger from Covid lies not in an infection of MPs who are vaccinated – particularly since alleged carriers on the premises have now been identified and removed.

The danger from Covid lies in the deadly effects on the population of failures in governance by a discredited and ineffective administration run by place-men and incompetents, pre-occupied only with matters of survival.

Mahiaddin wants a month’s grace in order to do more of the damage he has already inflicted thanks to a year and a half of buying up votes, diverting cash, focusing on politics over governance and cronyism over the rule of law. The latest blatant outrages being the decision of his AG to restore RM114 million in cash and assets confiscated from Najib’s Pavilion hiding place (whilst at the same time prosecuting Syed Saddique for allegedly diverting RM250,ooo from Bersatu) and the appointment of another toady to full ministerial perks.

The limpet PM hopes in the meantime that the virus will go away, that donated vaccines (the cash to buy purchased vaccines being largely wasted) will bring down deaths and that he can continue to bribe and blackmail abused parliamentarians to buy him a majority of one, two or three.

He then plans to brag about what a fine job he will claim to have done with several thousand dead. What if continuing the same tactics continue to make things worse instead?

Is the alleged ‘Special Relationship’ worth it for the palace and the people or should parliament be restored as the rule of law demands?