COMMENT | Throughout the nation and beyond people are having intense conversations about political events in Malaysia. There are many concerns being expressed. Here is an attempt to capture some of the issues being discussed.

Does the fight for the prime ministership end here? Does Dr Mahathir Mohamad have any cards to play? Will there be a motion of no confidence? Does Harapan have the majority of MPs with them? Will MPs cross over for money or position?

Will the Pakatan Harapan coalition hold or will it come apart? Will Mahathir and PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim ever trust each other again? Did they even ever trust each other?

Will the DAP learn any lessons from this experience? Will they learn how to engage better with the civil service? Will their supporters learn the importance of more sensitive communication with the Malay community?

Will Harapan be better off being in the Opposition given current economic conditions?

Will the new government be able to deliver to the expectations of the people? 

Will they undo all the good work that has been done by Harapan? Will the reforms pledged by the Harapan government, of which the new leader was part of, be implemented? Will Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin at least adopt some of them? 

Will the focus of government expenditure be the B40 families? Will an important priority and policy objective be the eradication of poverty?

Does the new PM have a strategic plan for injecting life into a moribund economy? Does he have a plan for preparing our people for the fourth industrial revolution? What are his ideas for raising standards of education? Does he have a plan for rising unemployment?

The nation’s borrowings are high. The stock market is down, as are exports. Investment is also low. The US-China trade war and the coronavirus are affecting the economy. Many jobs are at risk. Can we afford to go back to the heady days of profligacy and extravagance? How much more can we borrow?

What will happen to ongoing cases? What will happen to the campaign against corruption?

What will happen to the heads of critical agencies appointed by Harapan? The PM was part of the Harapan government that made the appointments. Who will be replaced? The attorney-general Tommy Thomas has already left.

Who will be the driver in this coalition? Bersatu is a very small party. Most of Bersatu MPs are old Umno hands. Will Umno and Bersatu merge?

Who will lead the coalition? Will it be a partnership of equals? Who will be deputy PM? Who will succeed Muhyiddin? Will any of the persons facing charges be appointed to the cabinet? Who will be the finance minister? Will the PM bring in technocrats to help him?

Will we continue to uphold the provisions of the Constitution? Will we continue to adhere to the rule of law? 

What will be the attitude of the new government to non-Malays and non-Muslims? The non-Muslims are 40 percent of the population. Their morale, their skills and their energy are also important for the development of our country. The government should be inclusive. How will the PM reconcile the philosophy of PAS as articulated by its leader Abdul Hadi Awang with the need to ensure inclusive policies for a multiracial Malaysia?

Will the government amend the Constitution so that Hudud law will be imposed on Muslims? Or will they still pursue the moderate path?

What will be the policy and attitude towards Sabah and Sarawak? Will the Malaysia Agreement 1963 be given new life? Will the government respect their demand for greater autonomy and more money for development expenditure? Is there real interest on either side with the wellbeing of each other?

Any government of this country will have to grapple with the same issues. At the heart of everything is the economy and the cost of living. We have reached the tipping point. We can no longer assume that no matter what we do there will always be money. We have seen many nations fail. We should not be amongst them.

DAVID DASS is a lawyer and Malaysiakini subscriber and commentator.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.