Muhyiddin Yassin Is at a Crossroads – and His Party’s Future May Hang in the Balance

PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin who has played an instrumental role in the formation of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) has been sidelined now.

On Sept 4, four mentri besar of Perikatan-led states had a meeting with Dr Mahathir and have agreed in principle to form a strategic cooperation and investments group called State Government Four (SG4). PN Chairman Muhyiddin Yassin was not invited for this meeting.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s appointment as the unofficial advisor to the co-operation group of four PN/PAS-held states with the assent from the PAS’s top leadership is what rattled Muhyiddin the most.

Muhyiddin was not given the importance he was expecting within the Opposition Alliance. That he has been eyeing to be prime minister again is an open secret, even though he has been claiming that he does not need anything and is just trying to unite the Malay community together on one platform.

Such selfless talks coming from a man who has retained the prime minister chair for 17 months between 2020 and 2021 by declaring an emergency by shifting allegiance and changing ideology may appear incongruous to many discerning observers. Seeing his nature of switching sides for his own gains, it is being said that no one trusts Muhyiddin.

Will Muhyiddin change colour again? Can Muhyidden change sides once again? Why not! His political trajectory has been marked by remarkable flexibility when it comes to remaining in power by hook or by crook.

But also tension is brewing between Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin and supreme council member Azmin Ali and they appear to have had a serious falling-out, threatening to further destabilise Bersatu.

If speculations are to be believed, things may boil over in Bersatu in the coming months, with Hamzah supposedly already being given the cold shoulder by Muhyiddin. The coalition’s poor showing in the recent Johor state election has further aggravated the situation.

Muhyiddin has his own problems, still has three money-laundering charges. The graft charges revolved around the award of contracts to selected ethnic Malay contractors allegedly in return for bribes, and approving an appeal by a business tycoon over the cancellation of his tax exemption. Even his son-in-law, Adlan Berhan, is now on the run from the law and is a fugitive.

For Dr Mahathir, however, perhaps, is attempting to beat Muhyiddin in his own Machiavellian game. It remains to be seen whether Muhyiddin swallows his pride again or treats the latest crisis as the final nail in the coffin.