PM Anwar paying the price after wooing turncoats from Bersatu

Opposition party amends charter to force elected representatives to leave their seats

- Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has since 2023 wooed a string of turncoats from rival Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, but is now set to pay the price after the opposition party amended its Constitution to force these representatives to vacate their seats.

Under Bersatu's new party rules, an elected representative would automatically lose his party membership if he goes against the party whip. Taken with the provisions of Malaysia's anti-party hopping law, which states that seats are to be vacated if incumbents leave their party, up to seven by-elections could be triggered.

Six of these will be for parliamentary seats, while one will be for the Selangor state legislature.

This leaves the premier and his multi-coalition government facing three possible outcomes, none of which is likely to leave them politically unscathed.

Firstly, Bersatu's move could be stymied, but it could lead to accusations of political influence over independent institutions. The Registrar of Societies (ROS) could choose to reject Bersatu's constitutional amendments, or the Speakers of Parliament and the Selangor state legislature could refuse to declare the seats vacant.

Secondly, the "Bersatu Seven" could withdraw their support for the ruling pact, now dubbed "Madani", to keep their seats. Datuk Seri Anwar has repeatedly boasted of his administration's stability as it controls more than two-thirds of Parliament, but this supermajority will be lost if all six MPs backpedal.

The third possible outcome is that by-elections will be held. Based on the voter swing towards the opposition at the 2023 polls to elect six state governments, and souring sentiment towards the government in opinion surveys, Madani could well suffer a bruising defeat.