Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - It looks like Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi is going to keep up a baiting game against his boss - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - and although the motives are not yet clear, the undercurrents are getting more sinister by the day and no one would be surprised if the Anwar administration finds itself ousted sooner rather than later.
"Outwardly Zahid is adopting a loyal and deferential tone but it's obvious he is teasing someone for something," a pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"Why drop such a bombshell and then confirm the name of only one person but keep the identity of the rest who discussed withdrawing Umno from the government a secret only for Anwar's ears. Is a coup being carried out in public?"
SNAP GE NOT IMPOSSIBLE? MAY COINCIDE WITH SABAH POLLS?
Other political watchers believe Zahid was just increasing the pressure on Anwar so as to exact more privileges, posts and even seat allocations for Umno, although the next general election need not be held until 2027.
Already, there is talk that a snap general election is not impossible and that it might be held concurrently with the Sabah state polls, which must be balloted by September 2025.
"That is not impossible and the way the public narrative is being steered, it looks like Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor may call for state elections sooner than later, especially if he is pressured on the corruption allegation linked to some of his assemblymen," a veteran political watcher told PoliticsNow Malaysia, referring to a bribery expose that had led to calls for Hajiji's resignation.
"You can't say Anwar and the federal government won't be affected because Hajiji's GRS coalition only holds six seats in the federal Parliament. Once the Sabah state assembly is dissolved, anything goes because Umno Sabah insists it must have the chief minister's post while Zahid also knows it's hard for Umno to go back to its glory days as a whole unless Sabah Umno is once against its 'fixed deposit' (in terms of electoral support). So that can trigger a withdrawal at the federal level," added the observer.
"Zahid behavior is very bold these days. Whatever the motives, what it's telling us is Umno believes Anwar has peaked and has no way to go but down and out. The same for the DAP. I think Umno has done its research and sees the DAP losing a lot of respect from the Chinese for failing to make Anwar keep to election promises of reform. The prospect of DAP winning 40 seats again in the next general election is very slim. On the other hand, Umno has hit rock bottom and bounced back convincingly in the last two by-elections. They are likely to win more than their miserable 30 seats in the next GE," the observer elaborated.
The pundit was referring to Zahid's shock revelation that several opposition lawmakers had met with him to 'discuss' Umno joining forces with PN, the main opposition bloc, to form a new federal government. The PN coalition is led by former premier Muhyiddin Yassin's Bersatu party and in which the Muslim-centric Pas party is a key partner.
Although Zahid, who is also the Umno president, had refused to name the lawmakers, speculation has been rife they were from Pas, the most influential Malay party in the country after winning the most seats in the 2022 general election.
'HERO' SHAHIDAN OR 'SITTING DUCK' ANWAR OR UMNO TESTING THE WATERS?
Zahid has since confirmed that Shahidan Kassim, a former Umno stalwart who defected to Pas after a public fight with him, was among those whom he met.
"If I share this with the public, it would no longer be a secret. Hence, let it be that it is only discussed with certain leaders. I have also informed Anwar in detail for us to ensure that the same mistake does not happen. Shahidan is not the only one whom I met to discuss the matter," Zahid told the press.
Shahidan, the Arau MP, had admitted making such an offer to Zahid - insisting he should be viewed as a "hero" rather than a 'puppet-master' as his purpose was to unite the Malays and ensure that political power was 'returned' to them.
Anwar has not made any comment on the issue so far. Yet many Pakatan supporters had warned him against trusting Umno, even highlighting the possibility that he might end up a sitting duck for the ruthless hegemon party that had ruled Malaysia for over six decades before being booted out in 2018 due to a massive corruption scandal involving its then president Najib Razak..
After being thrown out into the cold for nearly two years, Umno had rushed to join the Malay unity government formed by Bersatu and Pas after the coup led by Muhyiddin collapsed the Mahathir Mohamad-led Pakatan government in 2020. Muhyiddin was prime minister until 2021 when after several major fumbles and a public rebuke from the King, he had to pass the all-powerful post to Umno's Ismail Sabri.
When Ismail Sabri called for snap election in 2022, Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition which consisted of his PKR party, the DAP and Amanah won 82 seats - insufficient to form the government in Malaysia's 222-seat Parliament even though it beat the PN's 74.
It was then that Zahid had controversially and against the wishes of many in Umno, decided to throw his party's 30 seats behind Anwar. This paved the way for Umno and Pakatan to form a new unity government and for Anwar to become PM.
According to Zahid, the latest 'deal' offered by the opposition lawmakers included ceding the PM's post to Umno again, while four Cabinet posts would go to their party.
Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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