The new(er) old Malaysia

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/03/the-guardian-view-on-a-royal-coup-a-king-overturns-a-historic-election

Not often I read something from the Guardian I disagree at so many levels, but this is something else. This just fails to accept how the system works here in Malaysia and instead brings voice to create a deep mistrust with the King, and the larger issue of democratic practice in Malaysia.

Let me break it down -
1. The King
The situation of a reigning PM resigning (sorry - couldn't resist) in a backdrop of a realigning coalition was unprecedented and was a test of the robustness of the constitutional monarchy that the Brits exported to us. (Note: Yes you Brit yobs, thanks but on second thoughts.. why were you here in the first place?) It wasn't like Tun M was resigning and passing it to the present ruling coalition, it was a ruling coalition that was getting replaced with the expectation that Tun M was to continue as the leader of the new coalition, and he was resigning. The question then becomes - who is in charge and who has the majority support of the elected reps?

That was the question for the King to determine, and in the face of it, he did just that in a situation without historical precedence.

The fact that some parliamentarian displayed behaviours that were chameleonic, dishonest, opportunistic and corrupt (so, what's new where - US & Trump? UK & BoJo?) by saying to the King that they were supporting Person 1 and changing their choice at the drop of a hat after that meeting complicated things.

The Guardian piece failed to clarify this important piece.

2. Anwar
It sounded like the piece wanted the world to side with Anwar (again) as seemingly democratic principles were abandoned. Lest it be spun, let it be remembered in the heat of the (battle) situation, Anwar offered himself as a candidate. He was nowhere close to getting majority support, and in an embarassing about-face when it was clear he was losing, offered Tun M the candidature to lead the (Anwar's/his!) coalition when Tun M was no longer getting the support of his own party (ie party-less!).

Is the Guardian piece promoting democratic practices or a mouthpiece for Anwar?

3. Tun M
Yes, badly misjudged and miscalculated the support that he was getting as the events were unravelling beyond control. But you could see the logic in what he was doing. Yet it wasn't enough to surmount the decades of animosity and mistrust, and it ended with that internal bickering allowing a dark horse contended to steal the game.

4. UMNO and Muhyiddin
In the end, this is still a fragile coalition. What is not evident is how much of the hard-won democratic space will be retained or if there will be the walking back of the racial patriarchy and patronage culture that is so toxic. How is the mistrust caused by racial polarisation and class divide going to be bridged? Muhyiddin deserves to be given a chance. If not, the Malaysian democratic practice that is in place, and one that the King has demonstrated the robustness of, will show the present ruling coalition out the door sooner rather than later.