The Malaysian Insight

WITH whispers of more defections coming soon, the already troubled Umno has finally met its match in its splinter party, Bersatu, said political analysts.

Unlike other spin-offs, such as Semangat 46 (S46) and the more recent PKR, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Bersatu stands a strong chance of replacing Umno as the main party of the Malays, they said.

“It is headed by a prime minister and a former Umno president, who is still very influential among Malaysians, as opposed to S46 who was just headed by a former minister and a former Umno treasurer,” said Universiti Utara Malaysia political science lecturer Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, referring to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who led the Umno breakaway in 1988.

“Bersatu has already managed to capture power at the federal and at the state levels, enabling it to use its power of incumbency, as opposed to S46 which never managed to capture power.”

After the spate of defections from Umno, Bersatu currently has 22 MPs (13 won during GE14) and 29 state seats.

Recently, seven Umno MPs jumped ship and were accepted by Bersatu earlier this month after a period of being independent lawmakers.

Bersatu is currently helming Kedah, Perak and Johor.

Apart from Bersatu and PKR, which was formed by Anwar Ibrahim after he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998, Umno has seen many splinter parties come and go with little success.

Among the early breakaways were Umno founder Onn Jaafar’s Independence Malaya Party (IMP) in 1951, followed by former agriculture minister Aziz Ishak’s Parti Perhimpunan Kebangsaan in 1963.

Both failed to take off and were dissolved after a few years when they failed to win in any election.

While S46 had some short-term successes, most notablely winning eight federal seats in the 1990 elections, its original leaders, such as Ibrahim Ali and Dr Rais Yatim, could not sustain the momentum and the party had to be dissolved in 1995.

Bersatu, however, has enjoyed different and positive circumstances, said Kamarul.

“Bersatu is aided by strong opposition parties, such as DAP and another splinter party PKR, and is more energetic compared to S46.

“Since its start in 2016, Bersatu has already spread its wings to Sabah and Sarawak. Something S46 never did,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Rather than rely on a handful of former Umno leaders, Bersatu also has a more diverse membership, including public intellectuals, said International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Dr Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar.

“What makes Bersatu different from other splinter parties is the ideological basis it adopts – a Malay party but not one that is inward looking.

“The intellectuals who have joined Bersatu are those capable of giving meaning to new Malays in a new world,” he said.

Bersatu was formed as an alternative to Umno, which is perceived to have deviated from its original struggle, he said, adding that the party is focused on convincing the Malays that their rights would continue to be protected.

“Although it is a splinter party, Bersatu still sticks to a model of consociationalism that had been the identity of Barisan Nasional,” said Tunku Mohar, referring to the power-sharing arrangement between Pakatan Harapan coalition members of different ideologies.

With rumblings of more defections, Tunku Mohar said Umno could finally meet its match in Bersatu.

“Its staying power is still too early to predict, but with the power it holds in some states and a strong coalition, the future doesn’t look bleak for it.” – February 27, 2019.