The War Intensifies With Mahathir’s New Party

Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof’s removal saw former Election Commission Chairman Azhar Azizan to take up the post.

 

Azhar’s appointment became controversial and was claimed by the opposition bloc to be “illegal” since he was not voted in.

 

Mahathir had also said that Azhar is more “compliant” towards Muhyiddin while defending the previous speaker, Mohamad Ariff as “neutral” in his stance.

 

It seems like Muhyiddin is always finding a way to head off Mahathir’s no-confidence motion. He managed to dodge Mahathir in the May 18 parliamentary session, and again during the July 13 Parliament by removing the speaker.

 

 

To make the situation more interesting, recently Tun Mahathir formed a new party.

 

The currently nameless party is aimed to cater for the interest of the Malays and Bumiputera.

 

The former Prime Minister will be the chairman of the new party while his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, is expected to be its president. The Langkawi MP also declared that his new political party will be fully independent and will not avow support to either the ruling PN or his former coalition partners PH.

 

With the formation of the new party as an independent block, the question of motion of no confidence has become quieter in the background as the PH seats have less numbers.

 

However, Mahathir Mohamed has made it clear that his new party is intended to be the ‘kingmaker’ in the upcoming election.

 

Despite not having enough numbers to form government, he believed that the party will be the decisive force in determining ruling power between the two groups.

 

 

Additionally, other issues such as the Sabah state election and trivial issue such as Hishammuddin Hussein’s vaping takes up the top issue chart.

 

Based on the current political situation in the country, it can be perceived that despite Muhyiddin Yassin’s safe positioning due to Mahathir exit from PH, the end game will still be the upfront battle between the former allies turn enemy.