Party hopping is nothing new in Malaysia’s political landscapes. We know that in the past some state governments have changed hands from one party to another because of this practice.
So what is new this time? What is at stake in the latest party hopping? Who are the principal beneficiaries from the spate of resignations of MPs from Umno?
Last Friday six more Umno MPs declared their independence of the party. Prior to that, on December 12, 14 Umno representatives in Sabah left and declared support for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Before these happenings, 17 Umno MPs jumped ship following the embarrassing downfall of Barisan Nasional (BN) during the 14th General Elections (GE14) which left Umno with 54 seats from 88 that it previously held.
Last October, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) supreme council member Datuk A. Kadir Jasin claimed that nearly 40 Umno MPs would cross over to PPBM in the near future.
After losing power following the GE14, Umno was deeply divided between three main camps, i.e. ‘Umno Bunga’ (pro-Dr Mahathir), ‘Umno PKR’ (pro-Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) and Umno status quo.
According to a source very close to the current president, ‘Umno Bunga’ is led by Larut MP Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin while ‘Umno PKR’ is headed by party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Semberong MP Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein who is also pro-Dr Mahathir is also helping Hamzah Zainuddin. A photograph showing a meeting between this group’s leader and Dr Mahathir went viral in social media in the last few weeks, leading many pundits to believe that Umno is split because of the choice of the prime minister-in-waiting in PH.
Umno leaders not in good terms with Anwar in the past such as Hamzah Zainuddin are afraid that they would become victims of a witch hunt after Anwar becomes prime minister, and not because they are strong supporters of Dr Mahathir.
On the ‘Umno PKR’ side, some lawmakers in Umno believe that Zahid Hamidi is using Padang Rengas MP Datuk Nazri Aziz to persuade them to support Anwar. Nazri has actively gone to the ground and delivered messages that under Anwar there would be no witch hunt against Umno leaders. Therefore there is no reason for them to join PPBM.
The spate of resignations, seen as a result of what appeared to be a proxy war between the opposing groups, has the potential to cripple Umno, inside which the voices to remove its defiant president is getting louder.
A senior figure in the party has suggested that a supreme council meeting ought to be held to discuss the crisis.
The present crisis shows that Umno is the biggest loser and its future remains uncertain. Without a new coalition to replace the BN, Umno will become only a regional opposition party.
Umno leaders have not been trained to function as an opposition. Some of them are still addicted to power and are willing to cling to it even through the backdoors.
That is one of the reasons why many in PH are not in favour of accepting ex-Umno leaders into their fold.
Responding to recent development in Umno, Anwar, the PKR president, categorically denied that there is a rift between him and Dr Mahathir. He pledged to continue supporting the efforts and leadership of Dr Mahathir and to continue to work with him to flesh out the agreed PH’s ‘Reformasi’ agenda.
A saying goes, “There is nothing fixed and consistent in politics; the only thing that is consistent is change.”
If all the 17 ex-Umno MPs cross over to PPBM, the party’s seats will increase to 30. PKR now has 47 and DAP has 45. Many observers believe that in the near future several more MPs from Umno would join PPBM.
With that, PPBM would emerge as the biggest party in the PH coalition. Clearly, PPBM would be the principal beneficiary of the party hopping.
So where is PPBM heading with the large number of parliamentary seats? Is it going to replace Anwar with somebody else as future PM?It needs to be realised that it could have another big crisis if it forgets that voters during GE14 were attracted to PH’s ideas of integrity, transparency and reformation which they believed would create stability to move forward as a nation.
These ideas also gave them courage to replace BN’s bunch of kleptocratic leaders, as well as the sense and insight into the ‘New Malaysia’.
• Dr Muhammad Asri is a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya
