Anwar’s ex-rival backs Malaysia’s budget. Will Muhyiddin become PM’s election partner?

The former prime minister who helped bring down Anwar Ibrahim’s political alliance six years ago has now agreed to back his government in parliament, in a surprise deal struck just before the passage of Malaysia’s 2027 budget at its first voting stage on Thursday.

Muhyiddin Yassin, who governed Malaysia from 2020 to 2021, joined 12 other opposition and independent lawmakers in pledging support for Anwar’s administration, hours before parliament approved the government’s 459.8 billion ringgit (US$111 billion) spending plan at the policy stage.

Speaker Johari Abdul declared the budget passed by a majority voice vote after Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan wrapped up the debate, with no recorded tally of lawmakers voting for or against the bill.

During his winding-up speech, Amir defended the government’s refusal to reinstate the goods and services tax, arguing that “any additional revenue must be assessed alongside the burden borne by the people”, particularly lower-income households struggling with living costs.

The agreement marks a striking reversal for Muhyiddin, whose Malay nationalist Bersatu party quit the then-ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in 2020, precipitating its collapse and paving the way for his tenure as prime minister for over a year.

Under Thursday’s confidence-and-supply agreement (CSA), six lawmakers from Bersatu, youth party Muda leader Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and six independents pledged to back the government on the budget and matters of parliamentary confidence until the current term ends.

Under Malaysia’s Westminster-style parliamentary system inherited from Britain, losing a crucial budget vote could threaten a government’s survival if it signals a loss of majority confidence.

Muhyiddin, however, insisted his lawmakers were not crossing over to the government benches.

“We remain the opposition, and I remain with Bersatu,” he told reporters at parliament. “All this is not for the interests of the party, but for the country. That is what matters.”

The pact also secures constituency development allocations equivalent to those received by government MPs, estimated by Muhyiddin at between 3 million and 4 million ringgit annually.

“In return, the government has decided to provide our MPs with the same allocation for constituency development as that received by government MPs,” he said.

Both sides also agreed to pursue institutional reforms, including separating the attorney general’s powers from those of the public prosecutor and limiting prime ministers to two terms. An earlier attempt to introduce the term limit failed in March, falling just two votes short of the required 148-seat supermajority.

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Strange bedfellows

The deal comes as Anwar’s relationship with Barisan Nasional (BN), a crucial partner in his unity government, faces renewed strain.

On Wednesday, BN, led by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, formalised an electoral pact with the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and its allies for the November 14 Melaka state election, where the parties will campaign under a joint manifesto against Anwar’s PH coalition.

BN’s growing assertiveness follows sweeping victories in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, while Zahid has also publicly challenged Anwar to call an early general election or face a parliamentary confidence vote.

Anwar welcomed Thursday’s agreement as a means of strengthening political stability, writing on his social media that “differences of opinion should not prevent efforts to build a better future”.

“Political maturity demands that all parties put the country’s interests above narrow political interests,” he added.

Bersatu, meanwhile, has been torn apart by a bitter leadership feud. Of its 19 lawmakers, only six remain aligned with Muhyiddin, while the other 13 back opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, who now heads the rival party Wawasan.

Ahmad Mohsein Azman, a senior analyst at strategic advisory firm BowerGroupAsia, said the arrangement was designed to shield Anwar from an immediate political threat.

“For the moment, the CSA indicates a more temporary agreement with the single aim of ensuring that Budget 2027 can be passed without challenges that would act as an existential threat to the Anwar administration,” he said.

PH needed a partner capable of delivering Malay votes should BN eventually abandon it, while Bersatu had been politically isolated following its fallout with the opposition bloc, Mohsein added.

“This PH-Bersatu dynamic might spur into a more concrete collaboration in the coming months as we inch closer to the [next] general election,” he said.

The budget now moves to committee-stage scrutiny from November 2 to 26 before its final reading in the lower house, followed by consideration in the Senate and royal assent.