Commentary: What next for Malaysia’s opposition after split victories in state polls

WHAT NOW FOR BERSATU?

Bersatu’s challenges are more existential. 

The party is a breakaway from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which had ruled Malaysia for more than six decades before being booted out of power in 2018. It was formed in September 2016 after Mr Muhyiddin and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad abandoned UMNO following a political fallout with Malaysia’s now-jailed former prime minister and UMNO president, Najib Razak.

Without a powerbase, the party now faces an uphill task to remain politically relevant until the next general election. 

The party’s leadership is grappling with legal troubles over charges of corruption that are bound to be a serious distraction to performing as a credible opposition and staying cohesive. Apart from Mr Muhyiddin, opposition leader Hamzah Zainuddin and Azmin Ali, a former senior politician in Mr Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) party, Bersatu does not have a second echelon leadership line-up. 

Separately, a new dynamic is taking shape in Malaysian politics. 

The last two general elections in Malaysia featured contests between three broad political forces. In the 2018 general election, the fight was between the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, PH and PAS, while the polls in November 2022, saw fights between PH, BN and PN. 

Last weekend’s state assembly elections featured straight fights between Mr Anwar’s unity government that now includes UMMO and BN against the PN. 

To emerge as a serious alternative, the PN coalition must find something other than the disenchantment among the Malay community towards establishing a national political footprint.

Leslie Lopez is a senior correspondent at CNA Digital who reports on political and economic affairs in the region.