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Old Shadows, New Storms: Mahathir’s ‘Payung Besar’ and Anwar’s Courtroom Headache Signal Shifting Sands in Putrajaya
By Mihar Dias June 2025
Two seemingly unrelated events this week cast a revealing light on Malaysia’s political landscape — both from vastly different stages yet driven by an old, familiar impulse: power, survival, and the inescapable shadow of race politics.
At one end of the peninsula’s political spectrum, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad — the 100-year-old perennial figure of Malaysian politics — has once again declared himself the protector of Malay supremacy.
At a carefully choreographed press conference, flanked by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Mahathir unveiled the Jawatankuasa Sekretariat Orang Melayu, a movement he insists is not politically motivated (a claim that Malaysians have learned to treat with healthy scepticism). https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/757873.
The rhetoric was unmistakable: Malays, he claims, have lost "half their power," and the only salvation lies in regaining control of the government — never mind that Malays have led every administration since Merdeka. https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/757873.
Notably, Mahathir explicitly stated this effort would welcome Umno members "in their individual capacity," a quiet snub to a party he once led and subsequently torpedoed. https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/757873.
On the other side of Putrajaya, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim faced a separate, though no less consequential, test of authority.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected Anwar’s attempt to have eight legal questions relating to his ongoing civil suit with Yusoff Rawther referred to the Federal Court. The verdict from Justice Roz Mawar Rozain was clear: no one, not even the prime minister, is above the rule of law. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/06/04/anwars-referral-application-to-determine-pms-immunity-dismissed/
While the allegations against Anwar concern events prior to his premiership, the optics could not have arrived at a worse time. A sitting PM preparing for what looks like a bruising court trial — with possible testimony revisiting unsavoury accusations from his tumultuous political past — while his government struggles with inflation, racial tensions, and political infighting.
Two Sides of the Same Political Currency
At first glance, Mahathir’s racial posturing and Anwar’s legal hurdles appear disconnected.
But both incidents reveal cracks within the ruling Pakatan Harapan-led coalition and offer ammunition to the opposition bloc circling like sharks.
For Mahathir, this payung besar movement isn't simply about Malay unity — it's about reclaiming relevance. His alignment with Bersatu and PAS signals a tacit consolidation of Malay-Muslim forces outside the government, one that could crystallise into a serious electoral threat should Anwar’s coalition continue to appear fragmented and distracted by legal entanglements and policy indecision.
The unity government under Anwar, despite its parliamentary majority, remains a precarious balancing act. The inclusion of Umno — a party Mahathir now scorns — has always been uneasy, with Umno grassroots restless and whispers of defections never far away.
Mahathir’s new banner could tempt disillusioned Umno loyalists, particularly those uncomfortable with Anwar’s multiethnic, reformist platform.
Meanwhile, Anwar’s legal challenge may not yet be politically fatal, but it hands his detractors — including the Mahathir-Muhyiddin-PAS axis — a potent narrative: that the Prime Minister is distracted, compromised, and vulnerable. In Malaysia’s cutthroat political arena, perception often trumps fact.
Implications for the Lead Party and National Stability
For PKR, the lead party within the ruling coalition, these twin developments are ominous. Anwar’s credibility rests on a promise of reform, justice, and rule of law.
A high-profile civil suit — particularly one dredging up lurid details from his past — risks becoming a political sideshow that overshadows his administration’s policy agenda.
And while Anwar might survive the legal challenge, the damage lies in erosion of political capital.
In a country where personal reputation intertwines with communal identity politics, the dual narratives of an embattled Prime Minister and an emboldened ethno-nationalist opposition cannot be ignored.
More worryingly, Mahathir’s latest manoeuvre signals that the ‘race and religion’ card — long Malaysia’s political wildcard — is being reshuffled and dealt again.
For Pakatan Harapan, which has historically struggled in Malay-majority constituencies, this presents a strategic quandary: pivot towards more Malay-centric policies and risk alienating their multiracial support base, or hold their progressive ground and risk losing the Malay heartland.
Final Thought: The Never-Ending Circle
Malaysia’s political history has a peculiar tendency to repeat itself, often with the same cast in slightly different costumes.
Mahathir’s payung besar is the latest chapter in a long tradition of racial mobilisation dressed as national rescue, while Anwar’s court struggles recall his own political origin story as a victim of political persecution.
Neither story is new. What’s different is the audience — a younger, more digitally connected electorate, weary of political drama and more concerned about bread-and-butter issues than the squabbles of elderly statesmen.
Yet, if the ruling coalition under Anwar Ibrahim mismanages these converging threats — external ethnocentric mobilisation and internal leadership strain — Malaysia may well find itself lurching back towards the zero-sum politics of old.
And as always in Malaysia, it’s never really about the people. It’s about power, preserved under whatever payung offers the most shade.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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