The year 2018 shocked Malaysian politics with the electoral defeat of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that has ruled the country since independence in 1957, first as the Alliance and then as the enlarged BN.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition comprising Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Amanah Negara
(Amanah) ended the BN rule with its astounding victory in the 14th general election (GE14) on May 9.
Bersatu convened its 2nd annual general assembly from Dec 28 to 30 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) in the government administrative capital.
On April 5, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) issued a provisional dissolution order against the party, which was formed in August 2016.
This did not break the spirit of the party led by current Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to contest in GE14 using the PKR logo. The RoS later approved the registration of Bersatu.
Bersatu has since attracted the interest of several former Umno leaders, among them former Foreign Affairs Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Bagan Serai MP Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.
Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir has said that party members will be given the opportunity to elect the party’s top leadership. However, no date has been set for the party elections.
PKR, meanwhile, held its 13th national congress on Nov 18.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was elected as the president, unopposed, in a long election process that saw the use of the e-ballot system for the first time by any political party in the country.
Anwar’s wife and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did not seek re-election as the president, paving the way for Anwar to helm the party.
Party secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail pointed out that the congress was the first for PKR as a government party after having been around for 20 years.
Amanah held its third national convention in Perak from Dec 14 to 16. Among others, it approved a resolution to create an independent body to monitor the performance of the ministers, deputy ministers and other political appointees from the party.
Its president Mohamad Sabu, in his adjournment speech, extended an invitation for Umno members to join Amanah now that Umno is seen as a sinking ship, although he said that every application from the Umno members to join Amanah will be scrutinised.
The DAP held its conventions in every state.
One point that the party highlighted was that accepting honorary titles should not be the primary aim of its elected representatives, now that they are in a ruling party.
Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said accepting such titles was not reflective of the party’s principles and gave the people the wrong impression.
He said the focus in the first year of helming the government would be to serve the people and save the nation’s economy.
The BN defeat in GE14 left the coalition with only Umno, MCA and MIC, the partners of the original Alliance, following the departure of 10 component parties.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stepped down as the president of Umno and chairman of BN. At the Umno elections on June 30, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was elected president and Negeri Sembilan Umno Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was elected the deputy president.
Parit Sulong MP Datuk Noraini Ahmad was elected Wanita Umno chief, former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki was elected as the Umno Youth chief and Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan was elected as the Puteri Umno chief.
Ahmad Zahid was slapped with a number of criminal breach of trust charges while Mohamad’s unopposed victory in the Rantau state constituency in GE14 was revoked by the Seremban High Court.
On top of that, Umno was struck another blow when 16 of its MPs decided to leave the party and become independent elected representatives.
Three Umno MPs joined Bersatu. They are Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (MP for Masjid Tanah), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (Jeli) and Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (Bagan Serai).
In another surprise move, on Dec 14, Sabah Umno was crippled as 14 elected representatives and 21 division chiefs together with its chairman, Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor, quit the party en masse to become independents.
In view of the latest developments and bowing to pressure, Ahmad Zahid stepped aside to enable his deputy Mohamad to be the Umno acting president.
In MCA and MIC, the presidents did not seek re-election.
In the MCA elections in November, Ayer Hitam MP Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong was elected as the president to succeed Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon is the new deputy president.
In the MIC elections in July, Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran won the post of president unopposed for the 2018-2021 term, taking over from Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam. Tapah MP Datuk Seri M. Saravanan is the deputy president.
The year 2018 saw Umno, MCA and MIC in the opposition after having ruled the country for 61 years.
