Malaysia’s political landscape realignment
KUALA LUMPUR: The past few days have been intriguing for Malaysians who had been following domestic political developments with a keen eye as the power transition issue, with sudden moves by political parties picking up pace that all but pointed to a possible realignment of the country’s political landscape.
A flurry of meetings involving political parties from both sides of the divide on Sunday that asked more questions rather than provide clear answers finally culminated in the shocking resignation of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.
While speculations were already in order on Sunday, it went into overdrive the moment news of the resignation appeared on screens, stumping the rakyat further as confusion reigned.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition of PKR, DAP, Bersatu and Amanah won the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, clinching 113 of the 222 parliamentary seats available, earning the mandate to form the next government through a simple majority.
PH’s victory led to Dr Mahathir being appointed the seventh prime minister, which made the elder statesman the oldest prime minister in the world, although it also came with an agreement to hand over the reins to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after two years at the helm.
The agreement turned out to be an uneasy issue as the two-year deadline drew closer.
On Feb 21, the PH Presidential Council met to discuss the transition of power issue. Dr Mahathir, in a media conference after the meeting, said the power transition would be done after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. However, no date was set as to when he would hand over the number one post to his successor.
Just two days later, several political parties, including Opposition parties Umno and PAS, held separate meetings amid talk that they were all linked to the possible set up of a new coalition to form a new government.
The speculations picked up pace and became more intense when Bersatu announced that it has quit Pakatan Harapan, which was quickly followed by news of Dr Mahathir’s resignation as prime minister and Bersatu chairman. The situation turned even more complicated shortly after when 11 PKR members of parliament, including several Cabinet ministers quit the party to become independent reps.
Although Dr Mahathir has resigned, the 94-year-old statesman is seen as still having strong support from his PH allies, who have come out to declare their support for his leadership and position as prime minister.
The latest developments in the country’s political landscape, following several shocking announcements today having changed the composition of the Dewan Rakyat, particularly the status of seats belonging to Pakatan Harapan (PH) as the government.
As at 5 pm today, PH is left with 92 parliamentary seats, after 11 of the 50 PKR representatives quit the party and Bersatu, which has 26 MPs, announced its withdrawal from the coalition.
With this, PH now comprises DAP with 42 seats; PKR, 39; and Amanah, 11; compared to a total of 129 seats it possessed before this.
Two Sabah-based parties — Parti Warisan Sabah, which has nine seats, and Upko with one seat are PH-friendly.
Of the other 83 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, 42 belong to Barisan Nasional comprising Umno (39), MCA (two) and MIC (one).
PAS has 18 seats and Gabungan Parti Sarawak also has 18 — comprising PBB (13), PRS and PDP two each, SUPP (one) — while Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has one.
The remaining four seats belong to PBRS (one), PBS (one) and Star (one) in Sabah and an independent. – Bernama
