Malaysia ruling party in disarray as Mahathir says it’s Muhyiddin who faces sack
- Bersatu’s intraparty battle deepens as the former prime minister dismisses termination letter against him
- Observers say as leadership saga drags on Najib Razak and his allies will gain
Political analysts said they believed that the unrelenting twists and turns in the intraparty battle was likely to weaken both factions, with the Barisan Nasional alliance – defeated in the 2018 polls – likely to benefit from the internecine battles.
In a press conference, Mahathir dismissed the legitimacy of the termination letters – issued to him and four others on Thursday by a party working secretary loyal to Muhyiddin – and instead suggested it was the prime minister who could face the sack for orchestrating the coup that put him in power in March.
Mahathir, 94, lost the prime ministership in that move after Muhyiddin pulled the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) – the party co-founded by the duo – out of the multiracial Pakatan Harapan alliance that won the 2018 polls.
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Subsequently, Muhyiddin, an ardent Malay nationalist, gained supported from Barisan Nasional and its linchpin, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno).
He then obtained the support of the country’s constitutional monarch to form a new government under the aegis of a coalition called Perikatan Nasional.