Muhyiddin, Bersatu are big winners in the Sabah elections
A week after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s claim PM Muhyiddin’s government has fallen, the latter is rising high.
While the Umno and Warisan parties are claiming it is their victory, the fact is Muhyiddin is the biggest winner.
He snatched Bersatu away from ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad to turn it into a powerhouse.
The party won more seats than the Parti Keadilaan Rakyat or the Democratic Action Party, two of its former partners in the Pakatan Harapan.
A columnist in Free Malaysia Today says, “Muhyiddin had looked extremely vulnerable, earlier this week.
“But Sabahans have thrown him a lifeline, providing him some time and strengthening his hand.”
A. Kathirasen FMT
Muhyiddin’s party, the Bersatu won 11 seats, 15% of seats in the elections which is a feat.
The party won 13 seats in the General Elections 2018. The Barisan Nasional wrestled 1 seat from the Bersatu through a by-election.
It was the famous Tanjung Piai by-elections which became a turning point in the road to the break-up of the PH government.
In the Sabah snap polls, the BN won 14 seats which is lesser than the 29 seats it grabbed in 2018.
This gives Bersatu renewed strength to pull the weight in the loose coalition between Perikatan Nasional and BN-PAS.
According to AFP, the embattled PM on Saturday passed his biggest political test since taking office.
Though it is a narrow victory in the key state elections, “it helps Muhyiddin to strengthen his tenuous hold on power.”
DELAYS IN ANWAR’S BID
Nevertheless, Anwar Ibrahim is delayed in bid to get an audience with the King of Malaysia.
The King is undergoing treatment at the Heart Institute and is not able to meet with Anwar to listen to his proposal to form a new government.
Some pundits say the delay is a chance for Muhyiddin the air with Umno MPs who are in support of Anwar.
Anwar is trying to form a new government with a loose set of MPs from both Umno and Perikatan Nasional. There is also the possibility that some PAS MPs may join the group.
But nothing is decided yet due to the absence of the King at the Palace.
A defeat of the coalition of parties under Muhyiddin would have acerbated the crisis for the PM.
He is leading a fractious coalition in power, one that seized the government from Dr Mahathir Mohamad after his resignation in February.
Malaysia is gripped by political turmoil since the collapse of the reformist government in February.