The opposition’s “Malay unity” narrative is more rhetoric than reality, an analyst said, pointing to the latest clash between Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir Mohamad over alleged misappropriation of party funds as exposing serious fault lines in the agenda.
Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the public fallout showed that key Malay political figures were unable to work together, despite Mahathir’s push for a so-called “big Malay umbrella”.
Doubts over Mahathir’s unity agenda
Mazlan said that if Mahathir failed to resolve the dispute and remained at odds with Muhyiddin, other Malay parties would be reluctant to support the unity plan, as they viewed both men as top Malay leaders who could not get along with each other.
He also criticised Mahathir’s version of Malay unity for excluding Malays aligned with Umno, PKR and Amanah, saying a genuine Malay unity agenda needed to include everyone rather than just certain parties, and that it now appeared more like window dressing to serve specific interests.
Impact on Perikatan Nasional and Malay voters
Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan questioned the timing of the dispute, noting that Perikatan Nasional was entering a critical phase with the 16th general election less than two years away.
He warned that the clash could confuse Malay voters because Mahathir was using Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional as a vehicle to promote his Malay unity message, meaning Malays who supported Mahathir were, by extension, also backing Perikatan Nasional.
The analysts were responding to Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz’s call for a closed-door meeting between Muhyiddin and Mahathir to resolve the dispute.
Video allegations and strained history
The dispute escalated after a short video clip was widely shared online, in which Mahathir appeared to accuse Muhyiddin of stealing party funds and keeping the money at his home, as well as seeking the prime minister’s post to avoid being imprisoned.
Mahathir and Muhyiddin fell out after the Sheraton Move in 2020, which led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government and saw Muhyiddin become prime minister, although the two former leaders had recently maintained more cordial ties, with Muhyiddin deferring to Mahathir.
Can PAS act as peacemaker
Mazlan said PAS could potentially act as a mediator in the dispute because of its strong influence among Malay voters, and that it was in a convincing position to play a peacemaker role.
However, Azmi was sceptical, saying PAS might find it difficult to remain neutral given that the dispute extended into Perikatan Nasional itself, and he doubted that the party could be a very effective peacemaker in this case.
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