‘Open war’ in Malaysia opposition party Bersatu threatens to undermine Muhyiddin’s PM candidacy

KUALA LUMPUR: Spiralling tensions between warring factions in the opposition Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) could undermine its pick of party chief Muhyiddin Yassin as candidate for prime minister ahead of Malaysia’s next general election, analysts say.

The public display of dissent against Muhyiddin at Bersatu’s annual general meeting on Saturday (Sep 6) shows growing momentum in calls for him to step down, the analysts add, warning that he could be quietly forced out with sufficient support from division heads.

The internal unrest could also be exploited by Bersatu’s opponents in the federal government, and even by its own coalition partner Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) to assert more control in the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) pact ahead of the next general election due by 2028, the experts also say.

Once simmering under the surface, the tensions within Bersatu played out in the open on Saturday as Muhyiddin revealed some were collecting signatures to topple him as president, a move he criticised as unconstitutional in the party.

Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief

An automated curation of our top stories to start your day.

This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners.

Loading

Some delegates then heckled Muhyiddin with calls for him to step down. Muhyiddin’s supporters responded with their own calls for the chief to stay on. The commotion - which happened as Muhyiddin was delivering his keynote speech - culminated in a brief scuffle that police are now investigating.

A Bersatu vice-president has played down the tensions, claiming that Saturday’s incident was caused by “excited” delegates and was “resolved well”.

“All (party) leaders acknowledged there are no divisions in their ranks,” Ahmad Faizal Azumu told CNA.

But Syaza Shukri, from the International Islamic University Malaysia’s (IIUM) department of political science, said the events at the annual general meeting were “definitely not a good sign” for Muhyiddin.

“The fact that it happened so publicly with media around shows that frustration may have reached a peak against Muhyiddin’s leadership and the absence of a clear way to get an alternative leader,” she told CNA.

IS MUHYIDDIN'S POSITION SAFE?

Muhyiddin, who is the member of parliament for Pagoh, became Malaysia's eighth prime minister in 2020 following the Sheraton Move in February that year that saw the collapse of Mahathir Mohamad’s coalition government.

Muhyiddin then stepped down from the top job in 2021 after losing parliamentary support.

At Bersatu’s annual general meeting in 2023, he made a surprise announcement that he would step down as the party’s president, only to do a U-turn the next day, citing support from his wife. His decision was cheered by delegates.

Bersatu’s internal elections in 2024 saw Muhyiddin retaining his presidency unopposed, in a term that will run until 2027, which is before when the next general election is due.

But Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Malaysia-based think-tank Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, believes that Muhyiddin’s position within Bersatu is “not safe right now”.

“Last Saturday when the commotion first erupted, I think that’s the first signal that there will be an open war within these particular two groups,” he told CNA, referring to critics and supporters of Muhyiddin.

“So depending on how many signatures (the critics) can get, I think the noise will be much, much louder.”

Local news outlet Utusan Malaysia reported on Monday that around 120 division chiefs in Bersatu have signed statutory declarations urging Muhyiddin, 78, to give way to his deputy Hamzah Zainudin, 68, for the party’s top post.

Syaza said 120 signatures is “a lot”, noting that Bersatu has roughly 200 divisions across the country.

“I guess the only way for a change of leadership to happen is if Muhyiddin willingly steps down amid pressure,” she said. “A really strong pressure could perhaps force him out. But I don’t think it will happen soon.”

Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist from Sunway University, thinks it is “possible” for Muhyiddin to be ousted as president.

“However if it happens, the official reason would likely be health,” he told CNA.

Hamzah's camp hopes to replace Muhyiddin as the latter is seen as lacking the vigour and momentum to lead PN and Bersatu to victory, Wong said.

“To them, the younger Hamzah's ascendance would be good both for PN in Malaysia and Bersatu in PN,” he added.

Political analyst Azmi said that Muhyiddin seems to prefer Bersatu secretary-general Azmin Ali, 61, to be the next president, though Hamzah is seen as having better grassroots support.

“And I think Hamzah Zainudin is the correct person to replace Muhyiddin, so that Bersatu can be a more, I would say, fighter-like political party, which under Muhyiddin for the last few months has been very quiet,” added Azmi.

Despite that, Hamzah - who is also Leader of the Opposition - reassured in his winding-up speech at the meeting on Sunday that he was Muhyiddin’s “number one supporter”.

“Do not listen to those who are trying to incite. The problem today is that there are people who do not know anything, yet they incite,” he said, as quoted by news outlet Free Malaysia Today.

“This is not our culture. Our culture is to uphold the dignity of the president.”

Ahmad Faizal, the Bersatu vice-president, told CNA on Monday that he could see that all delegates were “very happy” with Hamzah’s comments.

“Our deputy president mentioned in his winding-up speech (that) the incident is such a small matter and all should give their full support to the president,” he said.

“We are focused on improving the solidarity of the party machinery, the fight for the people and to take over the government to offer services that are far better than now.”

PRESSURE FROM PAS

But Bersatu’s - and by extension PN’s - quest to take control of Putrajaya must first resolve an important question: Who will assume Malaysia’s top job should they win the next election?

Bersatu’s nomination of Muhyiddin as its prime minister candidate on Sunday was met with a swift rejoinder from its partner PAS. 

PAS election director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said on the same day that Bersatu should not be “overly enthusiastic” in making such an important political decision without a coalition consensus, reported Free Malaysia Today.

Following the last general election in 2022, PAS emerged as the party with the highest number of seats in Malaysia’s House of Representatives.

PAS currently has 43 elected members, while Bersatu has 25 in the 222-member House of Representatives.

If the Bersatu commotion showed that Muhyiddin could not rally even his own party, questions would be raised on whether he could lead a multi-party coalition, Syaza from IIUM said.

“It definitely gives PAS leverage going into the 16th general election (GE16) to demand for a stronger position,” she said.

“Maybe PAS is not going to ask for the PM-candidacy, but they certainly would want to have more say, maybe in policy, chief minister positions, or even a kind of veto power.”

On Monday, Bersatu supreme council member Yadzil Yaakub dismissed the notion that his party had been hasty in its decision, as he called on PAS to name its own prime minister candidate for discussion at the coalition level.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told the New Straits Times on Monday that his party respects Bersatu’s stand in making internal proposals and decisions.

However, he believes PN should prioritise strengthening itself at all levels before deciding on the coalition's candidate for premier in the next general election.

"When the time comes, PN will announce the appropriate candidate," he reportedly said.

PN comprises Bersatu, PAS, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and Malaysian Indian People's Party.

The internal unrest in Bersatu could further undermine Muhyiddin’s nomination, Sunway University’s Wong said.

“Some in PAS may support Hamzah. Others may simply want PAS to assume the leadership position within PN,” he said.

PAS’ lukewarm response to the nomination shows the Islamist party is “signalling its ambition” and could be interested in presenting its own prime minister candidate to “seize control” of PN, Wong said.

“If there is no consensus reached, this may result in three potential PM candidates from PN: Muhyiddin, Hamzah and a PAS representative,” he said.

At this stage, PAS feels “very uneasy” that Muhyiddin could “bring Bersatu down”, something that would negatively affect PN, Azmi from the Nusantara Academy added.

“But I blame it on PAS, because they have been letting this go on for such a long time, even though PAS has more MPs compared to Bersatu.”

MUHYIDDIN FIGHTS ON?

Even so, Azmi found it “very surprising” that Muhyiddin revealed the signature campaign against him on Saturday, suggesting that the Bersatu president deliberately did this to try putting a stop to it.

Muhyiddin’s speech shows he is willing to fight this campaign, IIUM’s Syaza said, adding that he also wanted to get support from his camp “in a show of strength” that he will not be toppled.

“But by being so public about it, now there’s a perception that Bersatu is divided,” she added.

“So, I’m guessing this will continue until GE16 with opponents PH-BN and (even coalition partner) PAS using this against Bersatu.”

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which includes the Democratic Action Party (DAP), is in the unity government together with Barisan Nasional (BN).

On Monday, DAP strategic director Liew Chin Tong said he expects the tensions in Bersatu to affect support for PN.

“The commotion at Bersatu’s national conference is a symptom of a larger crisis looming in the party. And an unstable Bersatu will affect PN, no matter how popular PAS is among the Malays,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Ibrahim Suffian, co-founder of the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, told CNA that PAS is ultimately the opposition’s “core strength” at present.

But he does not think Bersatu will force Muhyiddin out as he still “commands loyalty of most members and remains their most recognisable personality among a segment of the electorate”.

“Having said that, a lot can still happen between now and when election comes,” said Ibrahim.