Malaysia’s unity government is holding in Putrajaya, but its uneasy alliance is fraying in the states after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) moved into opposition in Melaka even as it is still reeling from a rout by its federal partner Barisan Nasional (BN) in Johor.The split followed a constitutional amendment allowing Melaka’s government to appoint up to seven unelected assembly members with voting rights. PH’s five lawmakers opposed the bill, which passed 23-5 on Tuesday.Four lawmakers from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the predominantly ethnic Chinese and largest component in PH, resigned from their government posts in protest against the amendment and joined Amanah’s Adly Zahari on the opposition bench.The walkout would not bring down Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh as BN holds 21 of the 28 seats and can govern alone, according to analysts. But it showed how quickly Anwar’s alliance of former enemies was splintering across Malaysia’s states, they said.“What has come apart is not a formal agreement, but the spirit of power-sharing created after the unity government was formed in Putrajaya,” said Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a political analyst at Universiti Malaya.BN never needed PH’s numbers in Melaka, but it handed its coalition partner government posts in the state as a gesture after Malaysia’s inconclusive 2022 general election brought the former rivals together in Putrajaya, Awang said.
PH’s ‘marriage’ of convenience with BN unravels in Melaka over lawmaker bill
A bill allowing up to seven unelected members with voting rights in Melaka has further strained the PH-BN federal alliance.
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