KUALA LUMPUR - Opposition party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) unanimously rejected former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s decision on Nov 24 to bow out as party president.
Muhyiddin said during a speech at Bersatu’s annual general meeting on Nov 24 that he would not be defending his post in party polls to be held in 2024, raising questions over who will lead the Malay-dominated opposition alliance.
His surprise announcement forced the party’s supreme council members to hold an emergency meeting, and one unidentified member said a consensus was reached to reject Muhyiddin’s decision, reported news site Free Malaysia Today.
Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin is expected to issue a statement on the matter.
Muhyiddin, who led Malaysia for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, has served as Bersatu’s president since its formation in 2016. He also chairs the Perikatan Nasional (PN) opposition bloc.
The conservative Islamist party is a key component of the opposition alliance, and if Muhyiddin were to relinquish the chair, it could rob PN of one of the few leaders with broad appeal.
Dr Bridget Welsh, a political analyst at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, said Bersatu would lose the “pull factor” it had during recent elections, and Muhyiddin’s departure could lead to infighting.
Having performed well in the general election in 2022, PN made further inroads among the country’s majority ethnic-Malay Muslims during regional polls in August.
While Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s progressive, multi-ethnic alliance appeals to the country’s minorities and urban Malays, PN has garnered support from more traditional Malays and young voters.
Malaysia is a multiracial, multi-faith country with ethnic-Malay Muslims accounting for over 60 per cent of the population while ethnic Indians and Chinese form sizeable minorities.
Muhyiddin told his party on Nov 24 that he would not run for party president during internal leadership elections in 2024. “The time for me to pass on the party leadership to a new team of leaders has arrived,” he said in a speech to Bersatu’s annual party meeting.
Datuk Seri Hamzah was likely to emerge as the next Bersatu president, according to Dr Welsh.
Bersatu leaders expressed their desire for Muhyiddin to stay as president.
“(The announcement) is merely a proposal, so I don’t want to make this a big issue. All of us at the supreme council level have agreed,” said Mr Hamzah, who is also Leader of the Opposition.
“He only said he will not offer himself for the position, not (that he is) resigning.”
Bersatu deputy president Faizal Azumu said the party’s grassroots also wanted Muhyiddin to continue leading the party, adding that he will not run against the former premier but will protect him. REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
