The coming together of long-time rivals, social activists, non-government organisations as well as some members of the ruling Umno party reflects the deep frustration and anger felt by many Malaysians over Najib’s alleged corruption and mismanagement.

However rousing the sight of politicians and civil society uniting to oust Najib may be to the disenchanted, the realities are more sobering – Najib is too entrenched in the system to be removed for now.

Malaysia’s next general election is not due until mid-2018 and the ruling Umno party elections have been pushed back to the end of 2018 by Najib himself in a clever move last year.

Umno’s party election is usually held every three years, with the next one scheduled around the fourth quarter of 2016.

“Given that there is no general and party elections until 2018 … it will be difficult to oust him. These are mechanisms which [Najib] has adopted to keep himself in power,” said political scientist Chandra Muzaffar who described the prime minister as “highly unpopular”.

“Najib controls the levers of power in the government and within his party,” Chandra added.

Past prime ministers in Malaysia were removed through the ballot boxes or when they resigned from their positions.

Since last year, Najib has faced calls to step down by Mahathir and the public over 1MDB and revelations that a US$680 million “donation” for Umno party was deposited into his personal account.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated he has not used the funds for personal gain. He has since been cleared of any crimes or corruption by the attorney general’s office.

Prominent blogger Firdaus Abdullah who writes under the name Apanama, said the only possible avenue to remove Najib is through a vote of no-confidence in parliament.

“For the moment, [removing Najib] is only via a parliament vote of no-confidence. It is almost impossible but it’s worth a concerted effort,” said Firdaus.

A vote of no-confidence is almost impossible as Umno through its ruling coalition named National Front (BN) controls the majority of the 222 seats in Parliament.

In response, Najib said most Umno members were very disappointed to see Mahathir working with the opposition DAP.

“I see most of the Umno leaders, they are very angry and disappointed with Dr Mahathir’s decision to work with the opposition. In fact, excerpts of Dr Mahathir’s speeches have gone viral, also condemnation of Lim Kit Siang as a racist leader and a DAP chauvinist,” Najib was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim was among those who signed the declaration presented by Mahathir and his new allies last week, calling for Najib to quit. He struck a more positive note.

“It’s a positive start. Collaboration will reinforce democratic forces, hopefully that will translate to votes to form a new government,” said Zaid.

In the meantime, tension and friction are expected to increase, as Malaysia suffers a huge hit to its economy on the back of falling oil prices.

“This is going to lead to increased political tension which is not good for the country as we are facing very serious economic challenges. We should be focused on those challenges instead of jostling for power,” said Chandra. “The root cause of all this is because the incumbent does not want to come to terms with issues pertaining to his own personal integrity.”