LETTER | Sulaiman’s resignation shows federal-state govt inconsistency

LETTER | It is not unexpectable for former Malacca chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali to resign from his position. 

Is this the chance that Malacca Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh has been waiting for?

Since the day Sulaiman (above) was sworn in, there have been rumours saying that his administration is unstable due to his conflict with Malacca Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh. His action to be sworn in at midnight raised further speculations on this matter. 

Maybe this is the chance that Ab Rauf has been waiting for, following his embarrassing win with a very slight margin in the Tanjung Bidara seat, one of Umno’s long-time strongholds, during the 2021 Malacca state election. 

To prove his legitimacy and capability to all delegates from Malacca Umno and its supporters, Ab Rauf needs a driving factor, and that factor arose when the 15th general election (GE15) took place.

GE15’s result is indeed the most unexpected one in Malaysian history, as we saw a hung Parliament for the first time. What’s more interesting is that Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, this pair of decades-long nemesis, grabbed hands to form the federal government amid the rising Perikatan Nasional (PN) wave, driven mainly by their common foe PAS. 

More cabinet positions for Umno MPs

To sustain power, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has awarded more cabinet positions to Umno MPs than to his allies from DAP, while also giving away the position of Perak MB to Umno’s representative, despite Harapan holding dominantly more seats than Umno. 

In the recent wave of political appointments in government-linked companies (GLC), more Umno members are awarded positions compared to Anwar’s Harapan allies. Regardless of whether these decisions are wise or not, Harapan and BN have joined hands in Perak and Pahang, and will cooperate in the forthcoming state elections in Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah.

The status of the two southern states won by Umno under landslide victories when Harapan and BN are still hardcore enemies remains untouched by the Harapan-BN pact. 

The political crisis in Sabah had led to a cabinet reshuffle, officially shifting the position of Sabah Harapan from opposition to the government. There is a possibility that federal Umno pressured Sulaiman to do the same in Malacca.

Despite not often presenting himself in federal Umno affairs and conflicts, Sulaiman’s relationship with Ab Rauf indicates that he is not really the pro-Zahid faction inside the party. 

However, Ab Rauf has long been known as one of the supporters of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Therefore, there is a possibility that Sulaiman rejected Zahid’s demand to reshuffle the Malacca cabinet to bring in Harapan assemblypersons, leading to his downfall. 

Even if Sulaiman does not resign, Ab Rauf can always incite other Umno state assemblypersons to retract their support for Sulaiman and form a new state government led by himself.

As the choice of a new Malacca chief minister remains unclear for now, it is a high possibility that Harapan will be part of the next Malacca cabinet to strengthen the tie between BN and Harapan at the federal level. 

Sulaiman may leave Umno to join PN without any consequences as Malacca has yet to implement the Anti-Party Hopping Act. If this happens, Umno and BN’s dominance in Malacca will be strengthened, while the power of the opposition will be further diminished. 

On top of this, a more serious problem that the Harapan-BN pact must tackle is the issue of state power following their cooperation at the federal level, particularly in Johor, which is still ruled solely by Umno now.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.