Shahruddin to turn his back on Muhyiddin after two decades?

Bersatu's Shahruddin Salleh resigned as the deputy works minister yesterday, signalling a possible breakaway from party president and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after more than 20 years by his side.

His meeting with Muhyiddin’s rival Dr Mahathir Mohamad following his resignation added fuel to the speculation.

He has declined to confirm it but if Shahruddin (above) has truly switched camps, this will be the second time he has defected from the government to the opposition.

Back in 2016 during the height of the 1MDB scandal, he had been a two-term Jorak assemblyperson.

Jorak, which has since been renamed Bukit Pasir, is one of the two Johor state seats in the Pagoh constituency.

In Pagoh, Muhyiddin’s home turf and longtime political base, Shahruddin was his third-in-command in the local Umno division.

Before his decade as the Jorak representative, Shahruddin was Muhyiddin's political secretary for 11 years across four different ministries.

Bersatu's founding sec-gen

On June 24 that year, Muhyiddin (below) - then the deputy prime minister - was famously expelled from the party by the Umno supreme council.

Largely seen as a purge of former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s critics, the council had also expelled Mukhriz Mahathir and froze Shafie Apdal’s membership.

To protest Muhyiddin’s sacking, Shahruddin had resigned from all party positions but decided to retain his Umno membership.

When Muhyiddin later set up Bersatu with Mahathir and Mukhriz to challenge Najib’s Umno, Shahruddin was named the party’s first secretary-general despite his membership in Umno.

By switching parties, Shahruddin had given Bersatu its first seat in the Johor legislative assembly.

His move had also denied the then-BN state government a two-thirds majority.

This foreshadowed Bersatu’s eventual GE14 victory over Umno for control of the battleground state.

Of course, his actions at the time were not without consequences.

Shahruddin ended up losing access to resources reserved for government representatives. He was also removed as chairperson of the Institute of Translation and Books (ITBM), a body under the Education Ministry.

Don’t want to see Bersatu die

Shahruddin’s latest move thus marks a surprising turn of events.

On June 2, two days before his resignation, he had issued a long statement saying he loved Bersatu more than any of its individual leaders.

Characterising himself as “budak Muhyiddin” (Muhyiddin’s boy), he said the latter’s ascent as PM had made him “very happy”. 

However, he also said he was ready to quit Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional government if that would keep Bersatu from imploding.

Shahruddin further wondered if Bersatu would fare better as part of PN or Pakatan Harapan.

“I don’t want to see Bersatu dead without a grave or a tombstone...

“My friends, tell me sincerely. I am now the Sri Gading MP. In GE15, in which coalition would Bersatu be able to contest here easily without much discussion? PN or Harapan?

“This is the answer to the most important question. Is Bersatu safer in PN or Harapan? Answer me, my friends,” he said.

PN is a loose pact comprising Bersatu, Umno, MCA, MIC, PAS, GPS, Star and PBS.

The public appeal would become his last statement as a deputy minister.

With his resignation and defection, Muhyiddin’s government is left just a one-seat majority in the Dewan Rakyat.  - Mkini