PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR EARLY POLLS
Separately, pressure is building within the Democratic Action Party (DAP) – PH’s largest component – to push Anwar to hold the country’s 16th general election simultaneously with three state polls due before the government’s term expires, according to PH politicians.
The next general election in Malaysia is scheduled to be held by Feb 17, 2028, but insiders and analysts told CNA in an earlier report that preparations are underway with Anwar seeking to exploit the strong economy and the opposition infighting.
“The pressure is building against him (PM Anwar) as if a perfect storm is brewing,” said an owner of a boutique financial advisory, who has tracked Malaysian politics for decades.
“Early federal polls are looking like a near certainty. Sabah and Sarawak want it, and so does DAP,” former law minister Zaid Ibrahim told CNA.
The DAP – a staunch supporter of Anwar through his more than two decades as a progressive opposition leader – is widely seen as a Chinese-majority party, reflecting the views of the Malaysian Chinese community.
But its loss of all eight seats contested in November’s Sabah state assembly elections has exposed simmering disenchantment among its traditional Chinese voter base.
Once the vocal counterbalance to Malay-dominated politics, DAP is now seen by many as subservient in Anwar’s government. This loss of credibility through compromise is forcing a reckoning, DAP leaders privately acknowledge.
“DAP now sees (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) PKR and Anwar as weak allies. Many leaders want to leave PH and go solo upon Parliament’s dissolution to regain lost ground among non-Malay communities,” said former DAP state assemblyman Ronnie Liu, who remains in close contact with former colleagues.
Another senior DAP MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party leadership faces “heavy pressure from its increasingly disenchanted traditional non-Malay voter base”.
The pressure has prompted DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke to demand that Anwar decide quickly whether to align federal and state elections, and whether to maintain the current PH coalition framework.
“The election dates and the dissolution of the state legislative assemblies will take place within a relatively short period — within the next few months.
“So the consideration that must be decided by the prime minister is whether we want to continue the Madani government cooperation model … this unity government model, for the next election,” Loke said, as quoted by local media platform Malaysiakini.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/anwar-faces-graft-crisis-pkr-party-fractures-ph-coalition-jitters-5976646
