This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 12, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has ruled out the possibility of holding snap polls, stressing that his Perikatan Nasional government would serve the people until the next general election.

“If you want to have a snap election, I don’t want that. This is not the right time... we are here to serve,” he told a press conference after chairing the first Cabinet meeting in Putrajaya yesterday, Bernama reported.

Muhyiddin said the new government was for the people and it would work for the people.

“People are hoping that this government will deliver, and we promise that we will deliver,” he added. It was reported that Pakatan Harapan members of parliament (MPs) have alleged that Muhyiddin did not have enough support to be appointed prime minister and Pakatan members were planning to table a motion of no-confidence against him when Dewan Rakyat resumes its sitting on May 18.

Commenting on the matter, Muhyiddin said: “Of course [I have the majority support]. If not, I wouldn’t be here.”

Muhyiddin faces a delicate balancing act to unite a range of political groups under the Perikatan banner aside from the challenge from the Pakatan coalition that abruptly lost power two weeks ago when Muhyiddin’s party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) quit the coalition.

Of the Perikatan parties, Umno with 39 MPs has the highest number, followed by Bersatu, with 30, and stands to gain if there is a snap election, said analysts.

In the midst of the political upheaval that erupted at the end of last month, Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the party had activated all its election machinery to work with PAS, its ally in the Muafakat Nasional alignment.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had also come out in support of snap polls as a solution to the political imbroglio that engulfed the government of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Civil society groups led by the Bersih 2.0 coalition for clean and fair elections had called for a fresh mandate to be obtained from the people at the height of the political turmoil, when Dr Mahathir had floated the idea of forming a unity government to solve the political crisis that roiled the nation.

Election Commission chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun had said that a fresh election would be more costly today than at the last contest in 2018 because of the higher number of voters involved and the steps taken to improve the voters’ experience.

Economists have also cautioned that besides the cost of the exercise, which was believed to be in excess of RM500 million in the 14th general election, the uncertainty created during a fresh electoral contest would impact the economy negatively.