How True Is Muhyiddin S Claim That A Snap Election Will Be Called By The End Of 2025

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THERE is a rumour going around town that snap elections will be called by the end of the year.
But who started this rumour? It is none other than Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
In a Facebook post last Friday (Feb 7), he said party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had ordered the party’s machinery to be mobilised immediately in preparation for a potential snap general election by the end of the year.
According to Azmin, Muhyiddin had issued the directive after a meeting among Bersatu and PAS’s top leadership, where they had discussed some very “very encouraging developments”.
What are these “encouraging developments”?
Would the conspirators of the first Sheraton Move be able to create the conditions for a second Sheraton Move to occur? Has UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi agreed to betray Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and take UMNO to the other side with him?
L-R: Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Image: Malay Mail)Has Perikatan Nasional (PN) finally managed to convince Sarawak to switch sides? Is there another conspiracy brewing in Dubai as it was brewing in early 2024?
Nobody knows.
The way I see it, there is only one condition that will allow a snap election to be called by the end of the year, and that is how public perception must have so turned against the Madani administration and that a large number of lawmakers on the unity government’s camp believe that their best interest lies in shifting their support away from the unity government and towards the opposition.
When the first Pakatan Harapan (PH) government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was toppled in 2020, it happened because a large number of MPs in the government at that time believed that public opinion was against government.
Therefore, they switched sides to the opposition in order to remain on the same side with public opinion.
At present however, there is no reason why MPs in the unity government would believe that they will have to switch allegiances to be on the same side with public opinion.
Even if they hear the murmur of discontent against Anwar’s rule on the ground, there is doubt that the murmurs they heard is strong enough to convince them that the people will support them, or at least, not object, to their decision to switch sides.
The difficulty of the task of changing government will also likely turn them off from considering a change of side.
To topple the unity government, at least two parties in the unity government, preferably UMNO and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), must simultaneously dump the unity government and switch sides to PN.
However, the difficulty inherent in getting two large parties like UMNO and GPS to desert the unity government in a synchronised manner is so high it is doubtful any conspirator can achieve it without the unity government getting wind of it.
Even if some of the government MPs are the true believer sorts who are willing to switch sides to stand for something that they believe in, even at the risk of unpopularity and a loss, they still don’t have a leader in the opposition to lead their cause.
GPS president Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg (Image: Bernama)Muhyiddin might be officially the leader of the opposition, but he is not the leader of the opposition in spirit. He is probably just in the position today because the opposition cannot agree on his successor rather than because they truly believe in his leadership or that he stands for a cause.
Well then, if the conditions for a snap election to be called by the end of the year is not present, then why did Azmin and Muhyiddin say that it will happen?
Perhaps they are probably just saying that it will happen with hopes that if enough people believe them, it might actually happen.
Other than that, they also are probably saying it to prevent anymore desertion of MP’s from Bersatu to the unity government’s side.
So far, six MPs have already deserted Bersatu. If the top leadership of Bersatu has nothing planned, more MPs might desert Bersatu simply because it has nothing planned.
By saying that they have some sort of “secret information” that leads them to believe that snap elections will be called by the end of the year, Bersatu’s leadership are probably hoping that they will be able to persuade any of their MPs who are planning to desert them to adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude and delay their decision.
Also, as a rule, if the leadership cannot move things forward, they should at least just move things around in order to keep the membership occupied.
By saying that snap elections might be called by the end of the year, Bersatu’s leadership could at least keep their members occupied with preparing for the possibility until the end of the year.
If their members put their heart and soul into preparing for the snap election, for all they know this might generate the conditions that will allow a snap election to occur.
If not, that is fine too, because once they reach the end of 2025 without any snap election being called, all they have to do is announce once again that a general election will occur with a year or two, and this time, they will definitely be right, because the unity government’s mandate is scheduled to run out in 2027. 
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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