Can Muhyiddin’s Melaka gambit pay off?

 

For a man who fought the deadly pancreatic cancer at the age of 71 and went on to become the prime minister after pulling the race and religion cards, Muhyiddin Yassin can be considered a brave man.

Although he lasted only 18 months at the helm, it was not of his doing that he was ousted. It was his friends who, after helping him take the top post, turned against him with the hope of “retiring” him from politics.

The bitter struggle is seeing a spillover at the Melaka state elections on Nov 20.

The 74-year-old Muhyiddin is plainly just not ready to retire. He is leading the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition to try and wrest power in Melaka. When he fired the first salvo last week saying PN will contest in all 28 seats, many eyebrows were raised.

Currently the coalition has only one seat. Umno has 13, DAP 7, and Amanah and PKR 2 each. Four others who caused this election by withdrawing support for the Umno-led government, have been sacked and are independents. Of the four, three constituencies are Umno strongholds while one was won by DAP.

With this pathetic strength in a small state, some describe Muhyiddin’s announcement to be false bravado, knowing pretty well that this move could lead to the annihilation of his party Bersatu in the state, and probably the beginning of the destruction of PN at the national level.

Some say PN may have the funds to face the Melaka elections but its machinery is virtually absent in the state.

Bersatu, without Umno or PAS, is virtually nothing, as it has not made much inroads there since the last general election in May 2018. Muhyiddin is forgetting that he had DAP and PKR with him to give Bersatu the much needed lift in many constituencies. They won’t be there this time obviously.

Its candidates had stood on the PKR logo, which had some effect on how the people voted. Muhyiddin also rode on Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s re-emerging popularity at that time. Most importantly, the majority of the voters wanted Umno out, so they just gave Bersatu-PH the nod.

After Bersatu broke away from PH during the Sheraton Move, Muhyiddin and his party were propped up by Umno, PAS and the breakaway faction from PKR.

Now Umno is no longer there in support, while PAS is in a quandary as they have a pact with Umno to honour. PAS has always been in a flux, gravitating towards power.

Most of them know that Bersatu stands to be wiped out in Melaka if it goes alone. The party could salvage some pride if PAS is at its side, but that may not be enough to win any seat.

So the gung-ho response by Muhyiddin, after an apparent failure to get its target number of seats in negotiations with Umno and PAS, is seen merely as a threat to Umno to reconsider its demands. He knows three-cornered fights will affect many Malay-majority seats substantially.

However, everyone knows that his statement rings so hollow that it is not going to happen. While Umno is set to salvage some pride in Melaka if all parties decide to go solo, Bersatu and PAS are not going to win any seat, with a few probably losing their deposits. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.