Bersatu, DAP, Umno and PKR all fared badly in the recently concluded Sabah by-election, but somehow only Muhyiddin looks like he might be facing some headwind because of it.
Even DAP’s Anthony Loke, who went on record saying he was willing to take “full responsibility” for DAP’s dismal showing in Sabah, wasn’t asked to resign by anyone. In fact, not only did nobody ask him to step down, I will bet 1 ringgit and 30 cents that no one in DAP will face any significant consequences for the party’s complete collapse in Sabah, where it lost all eight seats it previously held – despite Anthony making it sound like he himself was ready to bear the political cost.
As for Anwar, no one is holding him responsible either for PH and PKR’s humiliation in the state, where PH won only one of the 22 seats it contested — and even that one seat was won only because PH borrowed a candidate from GRS.
So far, nobody seems to be holding Zahid Hamidi responsible for Umno's worst performance in Sabah in decades. As for whether it will hold its Sabah chief Bung Moktar responsible, I suppose we will never find out, for the news is out that Bung Moktar has passed away earlier today, after suddenly finding himself admitted in the hospital under critical condition, just days after the Sabah election concluded. May his soul rest in peace.
If nobody is holding Anthony, Anwar or Zahid responsible, then why is Muhyiddin suddenly under pressure to resign, when his record in Sabah is no worse than theirs?
For some reason, the call by Sabah Bersatu secretary Yunus Nurdin for Muhyiddin to step down as party president and PN chairman has gained far more traction than it deserves.
The difference is likely because while Anthony and Anwar suffered a major setback in Sabah, the loss was their first big defeat in a long time. In between, they have delivered multiple victories, initiatives and positive outcomes for their coalitions.
Zahid I reckon, might be facing some headwind in the days to come due to Umno's failure in Sabah, but I imagine that he might be able to recover from the headwind, by making some compromises, like bringing Khairy Jamaluddin back into Umno.
Muhyiddin, on the other hand, has nothing - neither has he delivered anything but defeats and failures for Bersatu for years, nor does he have any plans to turn things around. I honestly cannot recall a single major political moment in recent memory where Muhyiddin came out on top. His name is not associated with success, momentum or breakthrough wins. Even when PN or Bersatu do pull off something significant — like organise the massive Turun Anwar rally a few months ago — Muhyiddin is never the name that is associated with the success.
In a boxing match, if you’ve avoided most of your opponents punches and landed plenty of your own, people will likely not believe that you are on the cusp of being knocked out even when you take a hard hit. But if you’ve been absorbing blow after blow for years, even when you receive a mild blow, what more a powerful punch, people might hold their breath and wait for you to hit the ground.
In the same way, I believe that only Muhyiddin is receiving a “punch” for the failure of Bersatu in the Sabah election, likely because only he looks like he might hit the ground if he is blamed for the Sabah debacle.
Some analysts believe the call for Muhyiddin’s resignation may be part of an internal Bersatu power play to topple him. That theory looks increasingly credible, especially after eight Sabah Bersatu division leaders leapt to Muhyiddin’s defence, insisting that Hamzah Zainudin and Ronald Kiandee — not Muhyiddin — should take responsibility for the defeat.
Hamzah, of course, is widely seen as the leader of the rival faction trying to engineer Muhyiddin’s removal. So this counter-attack by the pro-Muhyiddin camp can easily be read as part of the factional war inside Bersatu.
Even so, analysts like Azmi Hassan argue that the pressure on Muhyiddin is not yet “real”. Because the call originated in Sabah — with its unique political ecosystem — it “lacks bite” and is unlikely to topple him unless pressure also rises from Peninsular Malaysia.
But, as another analyst Ahmad Zaharuddin points out, the scale of the defeat — Bersatu losing every single seat it contested — could very well be weaponised by factions inside the party aiming to undermine Muhyiddin and make way for new leadership. And the figure waiting in the wings is, of course, Hamzah.
Yet factional plotting aside, Muhyiddin must recognise something more fundamental:
the root cause of the move to topple him is not his rivals — it is his own inability to inspire victory or fighting spirit.
When a leader delivers no wins and no energy for years, it is only natural that the party will begin looking for someone else. A group that experiences nothing but defeat under a leader will sooner or later question the point of keeping him.
At the very least, if you cannot deliver victory, you must show fire — courage, strategy, willpower, urgency. Subordinating yourself to a leader who provides neither wins nor fighting spirit is an insult to any member’s dignity.
If the only “victory” Muhyiddin can muster is defeating his own internal rivals — and not Anwar or PH — then he should have the honesty to throw in the towel.
If he has a real plan, if he still has fire, if he intends to fight and reclaim momentum, then fine — him attacking his rival camp for trying to unseat him is justified.
But if he has no plan, no fire, and is simply waiting for PH to collapse on its own without any desire or strategy to defeat Anwar… then as a responsible captain, he should step down rather than burn the ship that he is on to remain as its captain.
Because if he refuses to step aside, as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart , Bersatu will slowly mutate into a loser organisation — that will spend all its time fighting each other instead of winning battles that matter.
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