As a rakyat watching the drama of finding support for a new prime minister unfold, I am of the opinion that the BN MPs who are reluctant to give support to Anwar Ibrahim are purely motivated by their own self interest, not of their party’s and certainly not of the people.

From where I am standing, it is absolutely clear to me that the reluctance is simply based on a leadership struggle within Umno and factors like getting possible titles and rewards.

These BN MPs are serving themselves and not the interest of the rakyat. I will explain.

First of all, the most ridiculous reason given for not forming a government with Anwar is his relationship with the DAP.

My first question is, is DAP a terrorist party blowing up racial and religious hatred here and there or are they peaceful Malaysians?

My second question is, did Ismail Sabri not sign an MOU with Pakatan Harapan to prevent Bersatu and PAS from leveraging their loyalties to get whatever they want? Was not DAP part of that MOU? Apa ni?

Third question to these reluctant BN MPs, did you guys not enjoy being ministers and prime minister with all the perks that go with it under the blessing of PH and the DAP? Sudah lupakah?

Fourth question, wasn’t Perak governed by BN and the PH when Azumu was thrown out of office? And wasn’t there the support of DAP required? Tak malukah?

Finally, after GE15 BN Perak was given chief ministership by PH that included DAP, even though PH and DAP have overwhelming seats in the Dewan? Apa lagi you mau?

So, please don’t treat us rakyat as stupid-lah!

Now, we come to the juicy part on the question of what caused BN’s fall.

Some of the BN MPs say BN fell because Zahid wanted to save his skin from the court charges. And so, according to this narrative, the opposition PN and PH capitalize on that by saying Zahid is a perompak.

Well, we all sort of know about that, not only Zahid but the rest of you Umno people with the missing LCS or vaccine procurement. Orang kampung semua sudah tahu siapa orang Umno! Not Zahid alone-lah! Could be those yang cakap!

Thus I heard some of the Umno candidates bad mouthing Zahid and this caused a sabotage that brought Umno down by giving fuel and opportunity to its enemy.

So, sabotage brought Umno down. Zahid was also attacked by those he had dropped to be candidates.

I am not speaking for Zahid or proclaiming him innocent, but I am just stating the facts as I have seen it myself.

Umno fell because of inside job, not just outside. So, Zahid cannot be blamed entirely, and as Bung Mokhtar said, everyone was at fault.

Now we can discuss why some of the Umno MPs will not support Anwar.

The real reason to me is simply there is a faction that wants to use the election defeat to its advantage in shaming Zahid and ousting him by popular support.

But if Zahid gets Anwar appointed PM, then Zahid is in good shoes with Anwar and may regain his stature and also strength politically.

Zahid has also won the Perak game by getting his man appointed and Pahang may also follow suit.

Thus, it is clear to me that these people are reluctant to support Anwar because of their selfish reasons of ousting their president. Senang saja! Orang buta pun boleh nampak!

So, these MPs are not putting the rakyat first but putting themselves first, second and last!

Finally, there is the question of appointment to ministership.

It is a sucker’s bet that those not aligned with Zahid will probably not get any appointment if Anwar comes to power. Why? Because in their Aku janji, Zahid holds the power to recommend the cabinet candidates among BN MPs, not Anwar.

Thus, the reluctance of joining up with Anwar is apparent, no cabinet posts.

As opposed to joining the ‘other’ gang whose leader will expand the cabinet to 140 ministers and deputy ministers plus several more envoy goyang kaki, this leader seems to me the master of public wastage in terms of propping his Pmship.

He probably thinks wasting money is an Islamic thing as long as Islam is in the driver’s seat, whatever the price.

Anwar is a bit ‘kedekut’ to spend the people’s money because he happens to think that is a sin in Islam.

So, as a rakyat, I wish we don’t have to deal with these kinds of BN MPs, but what to do?

We just hope that the Agong will remind them that their duty is for the people first, second and last!

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)