Will Malaysia’s Umno pull the plug on coalition partner PH?

The political impasse in Malaysia’s government has regressed to a game of chicken, experts say, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the former ruling Umno party trading barbs and dares as pressure grows for snap polls with more than a year left to term.

Relations between Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and erstwhile rivals Umno have hit its lowest point since the two sides cut a deal to form a unity government in 2022, after a series of recent state polls that saw PH all but decimated at the hands of Umno.

The lopsided victories in Johor and Negeri Sembilan over the past two months have since emboldened Umno to demand that a general election be held immediately.

At the closing of the party’s general assembly on Saturday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said it was now up to Anwar to decide whether he wanted the government to remain in political limbo or seek a fresh mandate to rule.

“There are only two choices. One, get a fresh mandate through a general election; second, formally remove us [from government] and hold a confidence vote in parliament,” Zahid said as over 6,000 party delegates chanted “dissolve, dissolve” at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“Do you dare? If you have the guts, do it quickly!... remember, the unity government was formed because of Umno. The prime minister became prime minister because of Umno’s support,” added Zahid, in some of his most pointed criticism of Anwar since being appointed his deputy over three years ago.

Ties between the reformist PH and Malay-nationalist Umno deteriorated quickly over the past two months, triggered by a landslide victory by Umno in the Johor state election in July that left PH with just a handful of seats.