IT has been nearly two and a half years since the Madani government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took charge. This is usually the trigger for mischievous talks of snap elections by those desperate to see a change in the status quo.
Right on cue, we have a Bersatu party crumbling under the weight of factional strife and rumours of further defections. Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Azmin Ali even announced that he has kickstarted the party’s machinery in anticipation of a snap general election – on instructions from party chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin no less.
The truth is, Malaysia has never had snap/early general elections – not once. Our parliamentary term is based on a maximum period of five years before dissolution and the calling of fresh elections. All general elections from 1955 until 2022 have come with a four or five-year gap.
Hence, unlike speculations of cabinet reshuffles, which have precedent, there is very little grounds for believing in the notion of snap polls. The snap polls talk has usually been idle speculation spread by the “losing side” – such as the position occupied by Bersatu now.
Even at the state level, there has only been one significant snap election in Malaysia. This happened with the PBS-Berjaya power struggle in Sabah. In 1985, PBS won the election by a very narrow margin of 25-23. Then due to instability caused by party-hopping chief minister Joseph Pairin called snap polls in 1986, ultimately winning a bigger majority.
Anwar’s government today has the numbers to last until 2027 and no reason to call early elections. Additionally, the public is wary, and weary, of the instability that followed the Sheraton Move in February 2020.
Let’s not forget the starring roles that Muhyiddin and Azmin played during that shambolic political realignment.
As to why they would be so keen to cause a distraction by hinting at snap polls, one need look no further than their own internal divisions.
Just a month ago, Bersatu Supreme Council member Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal was talking up the credentials of the party’s deputy president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin as a future prime minister.
This ties in with increasing reports of a growing rift between Muhyiddin and Hamzah who have not been seen in public in support of one another for quite some time.
Indeed the tensions date back to the failed Dubai Move in December 2023, an alleged attempt to woo Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in a bid to topple the Madani government.
Now, Bersatu defectors report that the coalescing of camps around the two men is in overdrive. It’s worth noting that last July, Muhyiddin was reported to have said that he had been given a mandate by the Supreme Council to ensure that party elections did not cause divisions.
What he did was create a no-contest with himself as president while Hamzah slipped into the deputy slot even as then-incumbent Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu took a step back. But the truce has worn out.
Questions abound over whether this preempts potential further defections given that six MPs switched their support to the leadership of Anwar. And just how many Bersatu leaders are keen to take power amidst ongoing corruption charges and cases? And what does the party’s big brother PAS make of having to carry a divided group into future elections?
After all, there are seats that Bersatu won because of PAS support, but the converse is hardly true.
When all is said and done, this talk of snap polls on a national level would seem to be an optimistic attempt at deflecting from the party’s own schisms. – February 17, 2024
R. Yuneswaran is Pakatan Harapan’s Segamat MP