The Tamesis
February 23, 2026
Kuala Lumpur – Do you miss the days when the two heavyweights – Barisan Nasional led by Chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Pakatan Rakyat/Pakatan Harapan led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim/Tun Mahathir Mohamad – traded deals?
Recall the Bersih 5 conference in November 2016.
The 1MDB financial scandal has rocked the nation. The rally was a rant against corruption, calling for Najib’s resignation as prime minister and institutional reforms. While Anwar was still in jail, his reformist spirit was highlighted when his former rival Dr Mahathir Mohamad donned his trademark yellow shirt and led an emerging opposition coalition through the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
That was before the 14th national general election (GE14) in 2018. After that, Pakatan Harapan dealt a fatal blow to the Barisan Nasional.
Now, there are no heavyweights in Malaysian politics anymore. Instead, it offers a “debilitating impasse.” The theory describes a specific, stagnant equilibrium in which two opposing forces fill internal fissures so much that their ability to threaten each other is completely neutralized.
We are witnessing a debilitating stalemate, with Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional relying on each other’s instability, exhausted and unable to pull punches, and too fragmented to maintain integrity in the political arena. The two alliances are the largest: Pakatan Harapan won 81 parliamentary seats in the 15th national election in 2022, while Perikatan Nasional won 74 parliamentary seats.
In the red corner, Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan is acting as its own opposition.
In November 2025, Upko and two of his MPs quit the alliance and its chairman Datuk Ewon Benedick resigned from the federal cabinet in protest at the Attorney General’s Office’s (AGC) stance on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement. The withdrawal was driven by the “Sabah First” agenda ahead of the 17th Sabah elections.
Fierce divisions within PKR have shaken the alliance. The conflict between Anwar’s team and Rafizi’s team escalated after former PKR vice-presidents Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nick Nazminik Ahmed resigned from the federal cabinet due to the party’s poll defeat. Now, Rafizi’s team and his group of about eight MPs regularly attack Nurul Iza Anwar, the prime minister and PKR vice-president and Anwar’s daughter.
Recent protests against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Tan Sri Azam Baki have exposed PKR’s civil war. While such street protests are usually the opposition’s strong suit – reminiscent of Bersih V – the “star” of this protest was actually Rafizi and his MP loyalists, who attacked their own government’s record.
Notably omitted was the Democratic Action Party (DAP), once known as the country’s fiercest anti-corruption fighter. Ironically, before becoming part of the government, Pakatan Harapan had protested against Azam, demanding that he step down and face an independent investigation into his holdings.
Unlike Upko, who threw in the towel early and bowed out of the stage, the DAP opted for long-term, lingering tether. The party, which was beaten senseless in the Sabah polls – swept out of all eight seats it contested – is no longer an aggressive power-hitter in Pakatan Harapan’s corners.
The panicked and bruised Rockets now signaled a “pause” and issued an ultimatum on July 12 that looked less like a tactic and more like a search for the nearest exit. Although the party describes the upcoming special congress as a call for reform, the party is essentially deciding whether to loosen its gloves and move on from Anwar to avoid being technically eliminated in the 16th general election.
The “referendum” was a public trade-off: stay in a losing battle for stability, or go it alone until the final bell rings on their credibility.
The DAP is likely to go it alone in the 16th general election.
On the canvas, the repair in the blue corners is even worse. The Alliance Party has become an opposition party, leaving only one disciplined fighter: PAS. PAS remains the heavyweight pillar of the alliance, maintaining its stance even after the bizarre incident in Perlis where it lost to its own “sparring partner” Bersatu.
Bersatu is now a drunken competitor in the ring. After seeing its ranks weakened by early defections, with six MPs backing the prime minister, party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin decided to clean up his own corner rather than face his opponents. In a desperate attempt to regain control of his stool, he threw his stable out of the arena. This internal purge first disqualified key figures such as Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wanjan and Indra Makota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, and then the referee’s ax fell on the man standing behind him: his own deputy and opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamza Zainuddin.
The party’s disciplinary committee not only put a stop to this struggle; It cleared the bench, expelling Lalu MP Hamza and three other MPs, a move that hollowed out Bersatu’s front bench. The remaining camp is in a state of shock on the sidelines, staggering toward the technical knockout. Hamza’s team is preparing to take away 19 MPs, while Muhyiddin, who has about six MPs, is left to shadow box in empty corners, retaining a small fraction of the power he once wielded.
With the alliance unable to find a successor to President Muhyiddin Yassin and PAS forced to choose between a moribund party or Hamza’s rebels, Perikatan was too distraught to act as the opposition. Their absence from the Azambaki protests is the ultimate proof of their paralysis.
This is the paradox of Malaysia’s current political struggle.
The Madani government remains in power, not through a show of strength but because the opposition is too busy fighting itself (i.e. Bersatu against Bersatu, PN against PN) to mount a challenge.
Instead, the opposition survived because the government was too distracted by internal “ultimatums” and PKR’s sniping to deliver the final blow.
Both are locked in a static, awkward embrace, each other’s vulnerability holding them together. The tragedy of this weak stalemate is that while the two coalitions hold on tight to avoid collapse, the country is left floundering.
