On Sept 23, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim chose to claim that he had secured a "strong, formidable and convincing" number of members of Parliament on his side.

This claim was outlandish to most because, given the fractured nature of the opposition, it would mean that Anwar would have to count on the support of some Umno MPs for it to be true.

Against this backdrop, public focus on the Supply (Budget) Bill 2021 was squarely on whether Anwar would use Parliament as a stage...