Malaysia PM Anwar under pressure amid growing defections from his party

By Danial Azhar

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is under growing pressure from a wave of defections to a new party set up by a former protege, analysts and lawmakers said, ahead of an election that could take place as early as this year. 

Anwar came to power in November 2022 after more than two decades as an opposition leader campaigning against corruption.

While his premiership has restored political stability in Malaysia, it has been marked by renewed scrutiny of his pledge to tackle graft, concerns over the slow progress of institutional reforms, and mounting tensions and defections within the ruling alliance. 

Rafizi Ramli, a former economic minister once seen as Anwar’s potential successor, announced earlier this month he would quit the premier’s People’s Justice Party (PKR), vacate his parliamentary seat and take over the little-known Malaysia United Party, or Bersama. 

The party has received more than 18,000 membership applications, about a third of them from former PKR members, it said.

While the PKR defectors have mostly been rank-and-file members or local party officers – the law prevents members of parliament from changing party while in office – the numbers are raising doubts about Anwar’s ability to hold on to power if growing fractures within the ruling alliance force him into a snap election.

Hassan Abdul Karim, a PKR lawmaker and longtime Anwar supporter, said in a social media post on Thursday he had given up trying to stop members from jumping ship because the leaders had failed to listen to their concerns. While he still believed in PKR, the party was now “hurt, wounded and critically injured,” he wrote.  

Bersama could see significant electoral support from fence sitters, young people, and voters who prioritise the economy, Hassan separately told Reuters.

“If more PKR members of parliament who support Rafizi leave the party, Anwar will lose legitimacy as prime minister,” he said. 

Anwar’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh, who is also a deputy minister, told Reuters there was “no noticeable exodus of members leaving PKR to join Bersama”.   

Government spokesperson and PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil this week also downplayed reports of an exodus from the party, saying 5,000 people had joined in the past two months and its total membership was more than one million.

CLOUDY POLITICAL OUTLOOK

The resignations do not pose an immediate threat to Anwar’s premiership, as he still has a majority in parliament. 

However, the division within PKR would hamper the party’s chances of electoral gains and dampen Anwar’s prospects of a second term as prime minister, said University of Nottingham Asia political analyst Bridget Welsh. 

“Equally important, are perceptions of how Anwar is managing his own party, as problems within PKR do not reflect well,” she said. 

The next general election is not due until early 2028, but Anwar said earlier this month he would consider calling a snap poll if internal divisions continued to widen within his administration. 

   Frustration has grown among the premier’s reformist allies over the government’s response to a scandal at the anti-graft agency, while ruling bloc partners have sometimes clashed over different approaches to tackling ethnic and religious issues in the multi-racial, Muslim-majority country.

Two lawmakers told Reuters in March national elections could be called as early as July to coincide with several state polls expected in coming months.

“We believe that a political party must practise the values of reform and democracy that it proclaims to the people. Unfortunately, we no longer see these principles being practised consistently in PKR today,” 21 local PKR members said in a joint statement on Monday announcing their immediate departure from the party.

Several regional PKR leaders also resigned this month in similar fashion, with one saying Rafizi’s Bersama represented a continuation of PKR’s original ideals. 

(Reporting by Danial Azhar; Editing by Kate Mayberry)