HOBART: Twenty-four hours after the surprise announcement that he would step down as president of his party, Malaysia’s de facto opposition leader Muhyiddin Yassin did a complete U-turn.
On Saturday (Nov 25), the former prime minister said he would defend the presidency of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in its party elections next year. Bersatu leads the Malay-majority Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, which also includes Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS).
Muhyiddin said he really wanted to leave, but that his wife told him to stay for another term.
Why all the high drama? After all, on paper, Muhyiddin looks secure in his position as Bersatu chief. He is one of the party founders and a political heavyweight.
Perhaps most importantly, PN did extremely well in the six state elections in August. The opposition made major inroads in Malay-majority seats and increased their share of the Malay votes by about 10 per cent.
TESTING WATERS WITH BERSATU PARTY MEMBERS
The most obvious answer, and widely circulated in Kuala Lumpur political circles, was that Muhyiddin was testing his real support in Bersatu.
Immediately after his announcement on Friday, Bersatu’s Supreme Council held an emergency meeting and unanimously rejected Muhyiddin Yassin’s decision.
What most people forgot was that Muhyiddin had used this same tactic earlier this year.
In early March, he said he had offered to resign after being charged with multiple counts of corruption and money laundering. Bersatu’s Supreme Council rejected it, on the basis that the charges were political prosecution by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.
Cynics would argue that by getting the Supreme Council to refuse his resignation now, Muhyiddin has secured a full-throated vote of confidence and ensured that there will be no challenger to his power at internal polls in 2024.
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PERIKATAN NASIONAL’S PUBLIC FACE FOR NEXT GENERAL ELECTION
Another possible explanation is Muhyiddin was trying to avoid a split in the party. It is open knowledge that there are political tensions between Bersatu deputy president Faizal Azumu and the party’s secretary general, Hamzah Zainuddin.
Both men are gunning for the top job and by making sure the number one position is unavailable for another term, this may cool down the political temperature in the party.
The kind version is simply that Muhyiddin is the only PN leader who can appeal to the voters as a prime minister.
The biggest party in PN is not Bersatu, but PAS with 43 parliamentary seats compared to Bersatu’s 31. It is widely accepted that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is an unsuitable candidate to be prime minister.
On top of his considerable health issues, Mr Abdul Hadi is a polarising figure in Malaysian society. In recent years, he has made many controversial statements against minority communities, especially the Chinese, which are widely seen as racist and unbecoming of a senior political figure.
PN needs Muhyiddin as its public face if they hope to recapture Putrajaya in the next general election.