KUALA LUMPUR – The Madani government could survive even if Barisan Nasional (BN) were to leave the Unity Government, as it would still have 119 seats.
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) political analyst Associate Professor Dr Syaza Shukri said BN’s departure would not necessarily destabilise the current government.
“The thing is, I’m not sure if GPS and GRS want to join... the ones that want an election so much is Umno and PAS.
“Plus with the additional seats for Sabah and Sarawak being discussed, there’s no reason for them to follow Umno to leave,” she told Sinar Daily when asked about Umno’s leverage within the Unity Government.
On the final day of the Umno General Assembly on Saturday, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi challenged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to either formally remove Umno from the government or dissolve Parliament to pave the way for the 16th General Election (GE16).
Dr Syaza said Zahid’s remarks were aimed at strengthening Umno among its supporters and with PAS, while signalling where the party’s loyalty lies ahead of GE16.
“Zahid’s reference to 112 parliamentary seats was mainly a way to show that Umno still has some political leverage within the Unity Government.
“I think it shows that he understands that Umno is not as indispensable as he’d like to think, that’s why he’s doing this arithmetic. The fact is, without Umno, Anwar still has a majority. But of course, we don’t know if Umno leaves, does that mean GPS and GRS will follow? So in that sense, Umno still has some leverage,” she said.
“It’s signalling to show where their loyalty lies for GE16.
“But the current government is fine and even he himself said Umno would stay for the term,” she said.
She said the remarks were also aimed at convincing Umno’s supporters that the party was working towards perpaduan ummah.
“Yes, I think it’s more political signalling because he needs to convince his base that Umno is working towards perpaduan ummah,” she said.