PH, Bersatu will capitalise on Umno rift in Melaka, say analysts

 

The tension between Sulaiman Md Ali (left) and Idris Haron has been brewing since the Sheraton Move, say party insiders.

PETALING JAYA: The dissolution of the Melaka state assembly has sparked speculation that Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu will start looking for ways to profit from a rift in Umno.

Analysts Azmi Hassan and Oh Ei Sun told FMT they believed the two parties would try, for example, to entice Umno leaders in Melaka to join their ranks.

Bersatu is seen as weak and Azmi said it might want to work out a deal with Umno to avoid a three-cornered fight if a state election were called.

He said some assemblymen from Umno had close ties with PH and the coalition would try to woo them to its side.

Azmi Hassan.

There is a rift in Umno Melaka with some supporting chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali and others backing former chief minister Idris Haron.

Insiders told FMT yesterday the tension between Sulaiman and Idris had been brewing since the Sheraton Move that toppled the PH federal government and which also resulted in the appointment of Sulaiman as the chief minister.

Azmi said Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, aware of the party’s popularity in Melaka, would favour a state election to show that Umno still had the backing of voters.

However, 24 hours after calling for polls in the state, Zahid said it might be dangerous to hold an election in the next 60 days because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Azmi said the change of mind probably came about because Zahid did not want to be blamed if Covid cases went up again.

Oh Ei Sun.

Oh said an emergency was likely to be declared in Melaka, as happened in Sarawak, to put the election on hold.

“If an election is held, cases will go up and no one may want to take the blame for that,” he said.

Yesterday, Melaka governor Mohd Ali Rustam dissolved the state assembly after four assemblymen said they had retracted support for Sulaiman, leaving his government with only 13 seats in the 28-seat assembly.

Three of the four were executive councillors.

The four are Idris, who represents Sungai Udang, former DAP man Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu), Bersatu’s Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas) and Umno’s Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor). - FMT