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The rise of Muhyiddin Yassin: As Mahathir’s star wanes, Malaysia has a new ‘comeback kid’

  • Muhyiddin makes dramatic return after being forced to step down as prime minister in 2021, with Perikatan Nasional on brink of taking federal power
  • Once-dominant Barisan Nasional, heavyweight candidates the casualties of Perikatan Nasional onslaught as upstart coalition sweeps northern states

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Muhyiddin Yassin (centre), former Malaysian prime minister and Perikatan Nasional chairman, during a news conference after the country’s 15th general election on Sunday. Photo: Reuters
Joseph Sipalanin Kuala Lumpur
The roar of supporters was deafening when Muhyiddin Yassin entered the hotel ballroom where Perikatan Nasional (PN) members and top leaders gathered to follow the results of Malaysia’s 15th general election on Sunday morning.
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Standing at the rostrum in the predawn hours as the tally neared the end, the former prime minister was the image of confidence as he calmly declared that they were but one step away from taking federal power.

“To form the federal government, we will discuss with the leaders of parties in Sabah and Sarawak soon,” he said referring to the two semi-autonomous states on Malaysian Borneo, to exuberant cheers from the hundreds of coalition members who could hardly believe the outcome.

PN, which Muhyiddin formed just two years ago when he became prime minister in the aftermath of a political coup, defied all expectations as it finished the contest with 73 seats, the second-largest share of the 222-seat lower house of parliament, known as the Dewan Rakyat.

Formed as a partnership between his Bersatu party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and several other outfits, the upstart coalition was widely seen as a dark horse that was expected to split the votes of the majority Malay-Muslim community that would have typically backed either the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance or the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).

What happened instead was a complete domination of the northern states of Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu, and the spectacular defeat of heavyweight candidates such as the likes of two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and opposition icon Nurul Izzah Anwar.
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But the biggest casualty of its onslaught was the once-unassailable Barisan Nasional, which ended the election with just 30 seats as it lost dozens of constituencies once seen as strongholds to PN’s charge.

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