Minister Zafrul’s jump from Umno to PKR tests ties in Malaysia’s unity government

JOHOR BAHRU - Malaysian minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz’s recent exit from Umno to join Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has sparked calls for him to resign and raised tensions between the two key parties within the ruling alliance.

Datuk Seri Zafrul occupies the post of Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry by virtue of being appointed a senator, a position whose term will expire in December.

This coveted spot in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet was one of seven ministerial positions held by Umno after the last Cabinet reshuffle on Dec 12, 2023. This compares against the eight ministerial posts occupied by the Prime Minister’s party PKR, which are part of the 16 posts in total held by Pakatan Harapan (PH), the coalition that PKR leads.

As a result, the minister’s announcement on May 30 that he was leaving Umno has stirred concern not only over shifting allegiances among the disparate allies, but also over Umno’s continued influence in Datuk Seri Anwar’s so-called unity government.

These concerns were voiced by Deputy Prime Minister and Umno president Zahid Hamidi a day later.

“To me, what’s more important is that Umno remains represented by seven full ministers in the Cabinet,” Datuk Seri Zahid told reporters, as quoted by national news agency Bernama. He also said it was “unethical” for parties within the unity government to accept a member from another ally.

Umno youth chief Akmal Saleh has called for Mr Zafrul to resign from the Cabinet. Meanwhile, the party’s supreme council member Puad Zarkashi warned that accepting Mr Zafrul into PKR without proper consultation could erode trust between the parties and damage grassroots support for the unity government.

“If this is allowed to continue, more betrayals will happen,” Datuk Puad said, cautioning that Umno supporters may lose confidence in Mr Anwar.

Professor Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist at Sunway University, told The Straits Times that Mr Zafrul’s switch to PKR is a strategic move to avoid political irrelevance once his term as senator ends in December.

Mr Zafrul, a former chief executive of regional bank CIMB Group, is widely seen as more a technocrat than a politician. He ran in the 2022 general election as an Umno candidate but failed to clinch a parliamentary seat.

His defection, said Prof Wong, matters to Umno less as a loss of loyalty, and more as a hit to its ministerial quota and bargaining power.

Mr Zafrul’s own political future now rests on whether Mr Anwar, and PKR, will find him a safe seat to contest in a by-election.

“It is, after all, the PM’s party, which has the resources to compensate whoever is willing to vacate their seat for Zafrul,” said Prof Wong.

There had been speculation he would run for a Selangor state seat with an eye on the chief minister post, but PH leaders on May 31 reaffirmed their support for current Menteri Besar Amirudin Shaari.

Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said such manoeuvring, if done wrongly, may risk the loss of a ruling party seat to the opposition.

Instead, Dr Oh said, Mr Anwar’s next task is to balance Umno’s demands to keep its seven Cabinet seats against internal PKR promotions.

“Anwar would need to make sure that Umno is satisfied,” Dr Oh said.

Mr Zafrul’s defection comes hot on the heels of two other significant exits: the resignations of Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad – both party colleagues of the Prime Minister – after they lost in PKR’s recent polls.

Analysts say Mr Anwar’s next move in a potential Cabinet reshuffle needs to be well thought out to maintain harmony between the allies in his government.

All eyes will now be on whether Mr Zafrul’s Cabinet post will go to another Umno representative when his stint ends, or whether PKR will use the opportunity to stake more influence.