COMMENT | When you are under threat, what would you do?

You could be like former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and look inwards on ways to strengthen your supporters’ loyalty to you. You do this by giving them high positions, so they are dependent on you.

Once they are loyal, the assumption is that you will be strong enough to attack the opposition. But this strategy has its limits.

This was proven by Muhyiddin’s administration when he became beholden to supporters’ weather-changing minds and constant threats with better offers from the other side.

Money could buy temporary support, but it does not weaken external threats.

Or you could adopt a different strategy by looking outwards like Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. You could focus on weakening the threat of your enemies by offering them exactly what they want.

By offering a slew of reforms, Ismail Sabri virtually guaranteed his government’s medium-term stability. He was able to do this because...