WILL PAKATAN HARAPAN’S HOLD ON SELANGOR CONTINUE? Tricia Yeoh TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ISSN 0219-3213 TRS3/21s ISSUE ISBN 978-981-4951-43-2 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace 3 Singapore 119614 http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg 9 7 8 9 8 1 4 9 5 1 4 3 2 2021 TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 1 19/1/21 10:14 AM The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) is an autonomous organization established in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are grouped under Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). The Institute is also home to the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC), the Singapore APEC Study Centre and the Temasek History Research Centre (THRC). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 2 19/1/21 10:14 AM WILL PAKATAN HARAPAN’S HOLD ON SELANGOR CONTINUE? Tricia Yeoh ISSUE 3 2021 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 3 19/1/21 10:14 AM Published by: ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 [email protected] http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg © 2021 ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission. The author is wholly responsible for the views expressed in this book which do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Name(s): Yeoh, Tricia, author. Title: Will Pakatan Harapan’s hold on Selangor continue? / Tricia Yeoh. Description: Singapore : ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, January 2021. | Series: Trends in Southeast Asia, ISSN 0219-3213 ; TRS3/21 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: ISBN 9789814951432 (soft cover) | ISBN 9789814951449 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Selangor (Malaysia)—Politics and government. | Pakatan Harapan (Malaysia). Classification: LCC DS501 I59T no. 3(2021) Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 4 19/1/21 10:14 AM FOREWORD The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics. The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region. THE EDITORS Series Chairman: Choi Shing Kwok Series Editor: Ooi Kee Beng Editorial Committee: Daljit Singh Francis E. Hutchinson Benjamin Loh 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 5 19/1/21 10:14 AM 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 6 19/1/21 10:14 AM Will Pakatan Harapan’s Hold on Selangor Continue? By Tricia Yeoh EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • When the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government fell in February 2020, PH also lost control over the states of Johor, Malacca, Perak and Kedah. In Sabah, PH-aligned Warisan was replaced by the PN-aligned United Alliance of Sabah. • PH maintained its hold on three states—Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan. Selangor’s position is of unique interest, given the largest share of PH assemblypersons comprising members from the People’s Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, or PKR), the party which has faced significant elite splits in 2020. • The present stability of PH’s survival in Selangor can be accounted for by the sheer majority it possesses within the legislative assembly, comprising forty-one out of fifty-six state seats. Unless a significant share of assemblypersons were to defect, the change in state government would be highly unlikely. • PH built a strong base in Selangor during its time in power over more than a decade, securing performative legitimacy and rooting itself strongly within the community. • PH has benefited from the highly urbanized and educated demographic profile of Selangor. However, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has likely changed the landscape, which may in turn affect how constituents will now respond to goodies offered by the federal government. • Although PH in Selangor has survived the national storm, its future performance remains uncertain. This year’s political realignment, public opinion towards PN and the 2018 redelineation exercise where the number of Malay-majority seats has grown may hamper PH’s ability to maintain its strong margin. 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 7 19/1/21 10:14 AM • The political fragmentation that continues to unfold will see further party and coalitional realignment, which will invariably impact PH’s strength in Selangor. 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 8 19/1/21 10:14 AM Will Pakatan Harapan’s Hold on Selangor Continue? By Tricia Yeoh1 INTRODUCTION The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition rose to power at the federal level in the 14th general election in May 2018 upon defeating the longstanding dominant and authoritarian Barisan Nasional (BN), only to fall less than twenty-two months after its prime minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned. This led to the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin as the country’s eighth prime minister. Since 1 March 2020, when the newly formed political coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over the federal government, there has been unprecedented political instability, anomalous for a country that had only ever experienced the BN rule up to 2018. This resulted in changes in several states, with PH losing Johor, Malacca, Perak and Kedah2 as well. The Sabah state election also saw PH-aligned 1 Tricia Yeoh is Visiting Research Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. She is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) in Kuala Lumpur, and PhD candidate at the School of Politics, History and International Relations, University of Nottingham Malaysia. The author thanks Francis Hutchinson and Lee Hwok Aun for their comments and feedback, and Yohannan Nair, Aiman Caezar and Cash Looi for data assistance. 2 More specifically, the Johor state government fell when eleven members of Bersatu switched sides and one member of PKR defected as a PN-supporting independent. Chong Fatt Full, a state legislative assemblyperson, defected from PKR to become an independent. He was then sworn in as part of the new Johor state government’s Executive Council (Exco), now led by Perikatan Nasional (Straits Times, 6 March 2020). The Malacca state government fell after Bersatu’s two state assemblypersons left the PH coalition, and one state assemblyperson from PKR and DAP respectively left their parties. The Perak state government fell after the Bersatu Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) pledged support to PN and there was a series of changes in party affiliation: a PKR assemblyperson and 1 21-J07406 01 Trends_2021-03.indd 1 19/1/21 10:14 AM Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) being voted out of power, to be replaced by the PN-aligned United Alliance of Sabah. The three PH-led states of Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan have remained stable, however, and have survived the national-level storm. Selangor’s situation is of particular interest. Of the original fifty seats that PH had, twenty-one were held by People’s Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR). Given that former Menteri Besar Azmin Ali was one of the chief architects behind the Sheraton Move in February 2020 that led to the installation of the PN government, it was widely expected that this would cause some instability within PKR, which would in turn affect the Selangor state government’s own position. Yet ten months later, the Selangor state government continues unwaveringly in the midst of the national political turmoil. Selangor did experience several defections: four PKR assemblypersons defected to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)3 and four of the five Bersatu assemblypersons although no longer part of the PH coalition (after Bersatu left PH) have continued to be PH-friendly independents as “followers of Tun” (Mahathir),4 with the exception of Selangor Bersatu UMNO assemblyperson joined Bersatu (Malaysiakini, 9 March 2020), and two assembypersons from DAP and one from Amanah defected from their parties. Paul Yong from DAP defected to be a PN-friendly independent, Sivasubramaniam from DAP defected to Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), and Hasnul from Amanah defected to Bersatu. Finally, the Kedah state government fell after two assemblypersons defected from PKR to Bersatu. These were Robert Ling Kui Ee and Azman Nasrudin. Although there were two Bersatu assemblypersons who defected to join Mahathir’s newly formed Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Bersatu maintained its count of six assemblypersons within Kedah due to the above two defections.