More than a year after Malaysia got its eighth prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, the government appears to be on the brink of collapse again.
Malaysian political party UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) officially withdrew its support for Muhyiddin and pulled out of the government led by the Perikatan Nasional coalition, leaving the latter with not enough support to continue as the country’s ruler.
Whatever happens next is anybody’s guess. Will Mahathir Mohamad return as prime minister? Who knows. But that’s not impossible, according to some analysts.
UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dropped the bombshell news in the wee hours of today, after concluding a four-hour meeting with the party. The 68-year-old, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bagan Datuk in Perak, had called for Muhyiddin to step down and make way for an interim prime minister. The party blamed Muhyiddin for its departure, saying that Perikatan Nasional had failed to meet two of UMNO’s requirements for it to stay in Muhyiddin’s camp.
“Muhyiddin failed to fulfill these requirements and implement them satisfactorily,” he said in a live broadcast. The requirements were – realizing the people’s aspirations and addressing the economic slowdown while establishing an effective plan to manage COVID-19. Ahmad Zahid also asked that an election take place once the country achieves herd immunity.
The party’s decision to abandon ship came hours after the prime minister threw a curveball by announcing the appointment of UMNO vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob as deputy prime minister. He also ordered Hishammuddin Hussein, Barisan Nasional political coalition treasurer, to take over Ismail as the senior minister for security.
UMNO is the biggest bloc in the Perikatan Nasional coalition-led government, which holds a slim majority in the Lower House of Parliament, or Dewan Rakyat. The coalition is also made up of political parties Bersatu, PAS, Sabah STAR, the Sabah Progressive Party and Gerakan.
Thirty-five out of 46 UMNO leaders reportedly voted to quit Muhyiddin’s government while one abstained from vetting and another reserved his right to decide now. Eight others were prepared to support UMNO if the party refrains from working with the People’s Justice Party led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the Democratic Action Party, or DAP.
UMNO had given a heads up about its departure in March, when it pushed for general elections to be held either earlier or as soon as the state of emergency ends in August. UMNO leaders had also attended several meetings in the past week.
What happens now?
Political analysts told reporters that UMNO’s decision to leave would force its party members to resign from the various positions they hold in government, including ministerial positions as well as heads of government-linked companies.
“If they fail to comply, it means that they are breaching the mandate of the UMNO general assembly delegates and that of the Supreme Council,” Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Awang Pawi said. Those who defy may face disciplinary action, he added. If anyone chooses to continue supporting Muhyiddin, they may have to move to Muhyiddin’s political party, Bersatu.
“However, this is only expected to involve MPs, not grassroots members and it won’t lead to the dissolving of branches or divisions,” Awang Azman said.
Ahmad Zahid did not give a clear direction about where UMNO was heading next, Singapore Institute of International Affairs’ Oh Ei Sun highlighted. His latest move also raises questions about whether he would guarantee not to back Anwar as the next prime minister or cooperate with DAP.
“Umno and PKR alone aren’t sufficient to form a government, so DAP is still needed,” Oh said, and that “the King has to now appoint a prime minister who in the King’s view is likely to command a parliamentary majority.”
Who should lead the next government? Oh thinks that Mahathir could very well be the man for the job if not Anwar, who was widely rumored to be backed by Ahmad Zahid.
UMNO would “certainly” be willing to work with the former long-time president since he was “their old boss” after all, Oh said.
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