For the first 2 years of their reign, Anwar and the unity government were preoccupied with defending Putrajaya against PN.
In 2024, it looks like the Battle for Putrajaya is over, with PH looking like it has clearly won against PN. The Anwar led unity government is the first government in the post-Najib era to succesfully reign for longer than 2 years, and by the looks of it, not only will the unity government serve the rest of its term unhindered, it might very well continue to form the government in the post GE 16 era as well.
Seeing that the Battle of Putrajaya has been won, In 2025 and 2026, Anwar and the unity government will likely occupy itself with the task of launching a digvijaya against Sabah and Sarawak to unify the federation.
Since Mahathir resigned in 2002, a string of weak leaders in Putrajaya has emboldened the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak to formulate a separate destiny and carve a separate identity, which is threatening to break up the Federation.
In 2025, the Sabah state election will be occurring. As it is, major changes are already occurring in the top echelon of Sabah’s politics. Sabah’s Chief Minister is currently mired in a corruption scandal. Earlier in the week, Sabah has also gotten a controversial governor who is inviting criticism from all corners. Whatever that is happening in Sabah today is a sign that the Battle for the Fate of the Federation is already heating up in East malaysia. If Putrajaya’s digvijaya against East Malaysia is to succeed, the Sabah state government that will form after the state election next year must be a government that is friendly to Putrajaya, as opposed to a government that is antagonistic to Putrajaya.
Although Sarawak’s state election is not scheduled until 2026, the battle for the Fate of the Federation is also likely already heating up in Sarawak.
In the last couple of years, Sarawak has been lobbying aggressively to have such things as control of the oil and gas found within its territory and an increase in the number of parliament seats allocated for Sarawak.
As of today, Putrajaya has announced that it will postpone the allocation of additional parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak until the next general election is over. As for the oil and gas rights, although Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg has said that a solution had been reached in the dispute with Petronas over the rights to oil and gas resources in and around the state, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has yet to make an official announcement on the “formula” for the solution.
Next year, the outcome for the oil and gas dispute, as well as the events leading to Sabah and Sarawak state election, is what will likely take centre stage in Malaysian politics.
At stake is the fate of the federation. If Putrajaya's digvijaya against East Malaysia succeeds in the next two years, it will be able to install a friendly state government as the next state government’s of Sabah and Sarawak.
If not, Putrajaya will have to contend with an emboldened state governments in Sabah and Sarawak that will increasingly be attempting to chart its own future and create an own identity for Sabah and Sarawak, which will in turn will shake the federation to its very foundation.
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