This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 30, 2020 - April 5, 2020

THE Bersatu party elections have been suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir is challenging Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the party presidency, is set to beat the war drums during a whirlwind nationwide tour.

The theme of the Mahathir campaign is simple — save Bersatu. Put simply, it means save the party from the Umno kleptocrats who are currently in Muhyiddin’s government. Such a message can be troubling for the Bersatu president. But the pandemic has also put Mahathir’s tour on hold.

And now, even the opposition, which was bent on pushing for a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin when parliament sits on May 18, is not as enthusiastic

anymore. According to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the no-confidence vote is not a priority in view of the pandemic.

It is anybody’s guess when everything will be back on track considering the uncertainty we are in now. As things look, they will be delayed indefinitely.

But as British prime minister Harold Wilson said back in the mid-1960s, a week is a long time in politics. What more an indefinite period. Hence, Muhyiddin is not about to waste time and sit idle as far as politics goes, notwithstanding his focus on the pandemic.

He has tightened his grip on Bersatu by sacking Datuk Marzuki Yahya as secretary-general. Marzuki is a Mahathir loyalist. The new party sec-gen is Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin who is home minister in Muhyiddin’s Cabinet. According to political observers, appointing a home minister as party secretary-general is telling. Indeed, questions have been raised over a possible conflict of interest as the Registrar of Societies comes under the watch of the home minister.

It is a no brainer that despite being chairman of Bersatu, Mahathir was not consulted, nor was he informed prior to the sacking of Marzuki.

Mahathir has cried foul. He has dismissed Muhyiddin’s move as invalid, citing provisions in the party constitution that stipulate that the chairman must be consulted with regards to the appointment and the sacking of the secretary-general.

The word used in the constitution is “berunding”, or discuss. So Mahathir wrote a letter to Muhyiddin reminding him that Articles 13.9 and 16.3.3 of the party constitution state that although the president has the power to appoint the secretary-general, treasurer-general and the information chief, the chairman must be consulted.

In Mahathir’s view, “the meaning and application of the word ‘berunding’ in this context does not mean that the president only has to inform the chairman. It must be a thorough discussion between the party president and chairman on the matter of appointing these officials”.

Muhyiddin has so far kept mum. In other words, he is standing firm on his action.

To political blogger Shahbudin Husin, the Bersatu president’s action is a declaration of war and Mahathir has responded to that move.

As I had written in a previous article, this political war is expected. The only thing is, it came early amid the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin has hit harder. First, the Prime Minister’s Department withdrew Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s parliamentary allocation. Syed Saddiq, the Bersatu youth chief, is a known Mahathir loyalist. Days later, the department withdrew the parliamentary allocation for Langkawi, where Mahathir himself is MP.

Incidentally, on the day the withdrawal of Langkawi’s allocation made the news, Free Malaysia Today carried a story quoting political analyst Awang Azman Pawi as saying that it is vital that Muhyiddin brings Mahathir to the discussion table to avoid a split in the party.

According to Awang, if Muhyiddin fails to engage Mahathir now, Bersatu’s situation would become shakier than it already is. The analyst was quoted as saying that “if Bersatu splits, its power to negotiate with other parties like Umno will decrease”, which the other Malay-based parties would want, he said.

Awang is right. But Bersatu is already split. As Shahbudin sees it, the party is like a ship with two captains and two secretaries-general.

As for Awang’s call for Muhyiddin to engage Mahathir now, well, the Bersatu president did write a letter requesting a meeting. But Mahathir had all along maintained that any meeting can only be held if Muhyiddin cuts all links with corruption-tainted Umno leaders — which the Bersatu president seems reluctant to do.

And the perceived declaration of war by Muhyiddin is not helping matters. To political analyst Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, the parliamentary allocation for Langkawi should continue. And that must apply to all Pakatan Harapan-held constituencies and not Mahathir’s only.

For the record, funds for all parliamentary constituencies (including opposition-held ones) were provided by the Pakatan Harapan government. But the amount for PH constituencies was higher than the allocation for opposition constituencies. This was nevertheless heralded as a step forward as during the BN’s rule, opposition constituencies did not get any allocation.

“We might see a situation similar to the big Umno war in 1987, unless Mahathir gives room to Muhyiddin to have a reconciliatory meeting,” says Siva.

I agree, but the actions of both leaders are not making things easy for a reconciliation.

Expect more political manoeuvring. Veteran journalist Zin Mamud posted this on Facebook: “I am not only in social distancing mode. But in political distancing mode too.”

Obviously, politicians, even those in government, are not feeling that way.  

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.