This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 6, 2018

Yesterday was the last day of the 13th Parliament. What a day it was. It was marked by a flurry of activities to say the very least.

The Registrar of Societies (RoS) slapped Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) with a “provisional dissolution”, immediately leaving its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his troops without a party, with the 14th general election (GE14) just around the corner.

I will spare you the details as to why the RoS deemed it right to take such an action as many would already know it all by now. Yes, PPBM can appeal within 30 days. But the party’s deregistration can be permanent if it fails to comply with whatever it is that the RoS wants PPBM to do. This window also is open for 30 days. No elaboration needed as that too is widely known.

However, Dr Hatta Ramli, whose Parti Amanah Negara is an ally of PPBM in the Pakatan Harapan coalition, sees it this way: “That was as expected. Any possible action to limit the influence of Bersatu on our national politics will be put in place by the powers that be.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have previously dismissed talk of any malicious intent in the RoS probe into PPBM.

And the Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz of Umno when asked if Barisan Nasional (BN) would benefit from the deregistration of PPBM responded in his usual sarcastic manner: “It is not going to affect us if they are suspended or not. It’s like a mosquito bite. You just scratch it and you still enjoy it. It’s nice to scratch.”

But recent actions seem to suggest otherwise as Hatta pointed out.

“The ban on Mahathir’s images on posters and the non-registration of Pakatan Harapan are other examples of how desperate Umno/BN are in mitigating the effect of the overwhelming support received by Pakatan, Tun Mahathir, and Bersatu,” he said.

Hours before the RoS announcement, DAP announced its decision not to use the party’s famous Rocket logo for GE14. According to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, it had to be “sacrificed” for a common logo to be used by all Pakatan component parties.

Although Guan Eng did not say what the common logo would be, it is widely believed that Pakatan will adopt the PKR logo for GE14.

That prompted a veteran journalist to ask if the Election Commission would reject Dr Mahathir, Lim Kit Siang, and company standing on PKR tickets on the grounds they were not PKR members.

In Parliament, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, better known as Act 355 and seen by many as a back door to hudud, was listed high up on the order paper in the last sitting of the 13th Parliament.

The government appeared to have cleared the way for Act 355 to be debated and voted on even.

Hence speculation was rife that BN was about to “neutralise” any possibility of a “Malay tsunami” taking place against the party in GE14. This taking into account the “difficult spot” Muslim opposition members of parliament (MPs) would be in should they vote against the motion or even abstain.

They would be accused of “wavering” in their commitment to Islam and could very well be labelled “un-Islamic”, hence losing their appeal with Malay/Muslim voters in particular in rural areas. Thus no Malay tsunami?

But forcing a vote could also put BN components (except Umno naturally) in a spot.

Strangely, even PAS will find it difficult as the party will be two MPs short of the quorum of 15 required to trigger bloc voting. (Abdul Hadi himself was not present along with information chief Nasrudin Hassan. Both were on medical leave.)

In stepped Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who tabled a motion that the House be adjourned immediately after debating a ministry of finance motion — thus not giving way for Abdul Hadi’s bill.

PAS’ Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan questioned speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia on why he did not use his discretion to allow Abdul Hadi’s bill to be debated.

The speaker’s reply was certainly interesting. He said he was tied by a standing order which allows the government to defer matters on the order paper. Further, when he allowed Abdul Hadi’s motion to be tabled last year, it was due to the government allowing it, he said.

So obviously the government did not allow it this time.

And now Abdul Hadi’s bill is in limbo with the speaker refusing to say what will happen to it. Rightly so as Pandikar Amin could not say if the bill would be brought forward to the 14th Parliament as it would all depend on the election results and who would form the government by then.

Question: Has PAS been “played out” by Umno?

PAS has nonetheless claimed a moral win, saying it wanted the amendment badly but was denied the chance.

To that Hatta has this to say: “We knew all along it would not be adopted. It is just a show of recklessness at best, at the behest of Umno and for its good image. Today (yesterday) it has been proven true.

“Hopefully the citizens at large especially Muslims will not accept this game of one-upmanship played by PAS and Umno in the name of religion”.

This morning, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the dissolution of Parliament effective tomorrow, paving the way for GE14.

Mohsin Abdullah is a contributing editor at The Edge Financial Daily.