The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was triggered after several Members of Parliament (MPs) of the 14th Malaysian Parliament changed party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of two successive coalition governments and the resignation of two Prime Ministers. The political crisis culminated in a 2022 snap general election and the eventual formation of a coalition government. The crisis ended in 2022 at the federal level but continued until 2023 in the state of Sabah in what became known as the Kinabalu Move.New political crisis in Malaysia as Sabah government falls after Umno exits from coalition
In February 2020, a development commonly referred to as the Sheraton Move, saw the fall of the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition government and the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after 22 months in office. They were replaced by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition government, led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Political instability persisted after these changes throughout 2020 and into 2021, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This culminated in the resignation of Muhyiddin and his cabinet in August 2021, after 17 months in power. A few days later, Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed as the ninth prime minister to replace Muhyiddin. The crisis triggered several early state elections and a 2022 snap general election.
The crisis began with divisions within the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. Some sources indicate that this developed in part due to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's efforts to manage the transition of power to his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim, as had been agreed upon before the 2018 general election. Several MPs began discussions about forming a new government by claiming majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament of Malaysia, without a general election.
This was achieved through the withdrawal of the Parti Pribumi BERSATU Malaysia (BERSATU) from the Pakatan Harapan coalition and the support of several MPs from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), led by its deputy president Azmin Ali, who left the party. Prime Minister Mahathir then resigned, creating a power vacuum.
Malaysia's monarch, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah of Pahang, met with all MPs and political party leaders to assess their support for a new prime minister. He ultimately appointed the president of BERSATU, Muhyiddin Yassin, as the eighth prime minister. Muhyiddin then declared his coalition government as Perikatan Nasional.
Four states — Johor, Malacca, Perak and Kedah — also experienced changes in their respective state governments as Perikatan Nasional gained majorities in the separate state legislative assemblies. The Sabah State Legislative Assembly was dissolved, triggering the 2020 Sabah state election. Perikatan Nasional won the election and formed the state government with Barisan Nasional and United Sabah Party under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
Political instability continued after the government change. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim announced in September 2020 that he had obtained majority support to form a new government, though this did not materialise. Malaysia declared a State of Emergency in January 2021 amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to further instability within the Perikatan Nasional coalition in mid-2021. After a lengthy suspension, parliament temporarily reconvened but debates over the emergency measures were blocked and the session was suspended again when COVID-19 cases were detected in the building. Opposition MPs attempted to enter parliament on 2 August 2021 after the State of Emergency was lifted, but were prevented from doing so by police. After losing majority support and unsuccessful attempts to regain it, Prime Minister Muhyiddin and his cabinet resigned on 16 August 2021.
Four days later, UMNO's Vice President Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed prime minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after receiving support from the most MPs. Ismail Sabri's government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pakatan Harapan in an attempt to ensure greater political stability. In 2021 and 2022, instability in state legislative assemblies triggered further elections in Malacca and Johor. The crisis culminated in an early general election in 2022, which resulted in a hung parliament; Anwar Ibrahim was subsequently appointed as prime minister to lead a coalition government.
Background and key people
Pakatan Harapan (PH) is a coalition of four political parties: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Pribumi BERSATU Malaysia (BERSATU), Parti Amanah Negara (AMANAH) and Democratic Action Party (DAP). It was established in 2015 and won the 2018 general election, defeating the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government. BN had been in power at the federal level for almost 60 years, marking the first transfer of power to a different political coalition since Malaysia gained independence. Mahathir Mohamad, then chairman of BERSATU and leader of Pakatan Harapan, was elected as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, making him the world's oldest prime minister at age 92. Mahathir had previously served as Malaysia's fourth prime minister from 1981 to 2003 under the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of BN. He left UMNO in 2016 and founded BERSATU to oppose the sixth prime minister, Najib Razak, following the 1MDB scandal.
In the 2018 election, Mahathir reconciled with his former political rival Anwar Ibrahim, leader of PKR. Anwar had served as Mahathir's deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998 before he was dismissed and imprisoned under corruption charges. Anwar was later imprisoned again in 2014 under sodomy charges but was granted a royal pardon in 2018 by the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Muhammad V of Kelantan. Mahathir had promised to transfer the position of prime minister to Anwar after two years, but the handover did not occur as initially planned.
Azmin Ali, the deputy president of PKR, had previously served as Anwar's private secretary from 1993 to 1998. He joined PKR after leaving Mahathir's UMNO in the late 1990s. Azmin was appointed by the Sultan of Selangor, Sharafuddin of Selangor, as Menteri Besar of Selangor, following a political manoeuvre known as the Kajang Move in 2014. After the 2018 general election, he joined Mahathir's cabinet as the Minister of Economic Affairs. Tensions arose between Azmin and Anwar, which came to the fore during PKR's national congress in December 2019, where remarks about "treachery" were made, which were perceived by some as being aimed at Azmin.
Muhyiddin Yassin is the president and a founding member of BERSATU. He was previously the deputy president of UMNO and served as the deputy prime minister from 2009 until 2015 under Najib Razak. He was dismissed from his position after criticising Najib over the 1MDB scandal and was later expelled from UMNO in 2016. After the 2018 election, Muhyiddin was appointed as the Minister of Home Affairs.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob is a senior politician in UMNO and a member of the BN coalition. After BN's loss in the 2018 general election, he served as Leader of the Opposition.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the president of UMNO, having assumed the position in 2018. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018 under Najib Razak, following the expulsion of Muhyiddin from UMNO.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysia's constitutional monarch, holds the prerogative to appoint the prime minister based on parliamentary support, under Article 43 of the Malaysian Constitution. The position of Yang di-Pertuan Agong rotates every five years among the nine Malay rulers. The then Yang di-Pertuan Agong was Abdullah of Pahang, who ascended the throne in 2019.
COVID-19 pandemic
The global COVID-19 pandemic spread to Malaysia in late January 2020. The first major local outbreak occurred at a Tablighi Jamaat religious event in Kuala Lumpur in late February 2020. As the pandemic emerged as a global crisis by March 2020, including in Malaysia, it has had major economic, social and political impacts.
2020 February: Sheraton Move, fall of Pakatan Harapan government 21-22 February The presidential council of Pakatan Harapan held a late-night meeting to discuss the leadership transition from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to Anwar Ibrahim, who had been referred to as the "Prime Minister-in-waiting" following Pakatan Harapan's 2018 election victory. During the meeting, Anwar reportedly agreed to allow Mahathir to determine the timing of his resignation, with a potential transition after the APEC Malaysia 2020 summit scheduled for November. Multiple sources indicated that the meeting included discussions that were described as tense, particularly surrounding the timeline of Mahathir's departure.
In May, an audio recording of the meeting was leaked, in which BERSATU Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali reportedly expressed concerns that Mahathir might be perceived as a "lame-duck prime minister" if a fixed timeline was established. Some members of PKR expressed support for Anwar to assume the role of prime minister within the originally discussed timeframe of two years following the coalition's electoral win on 9 May 2018.
According to a Reuters report, Mahathir had considered forming a unity government involving various political parties, including accepting former members of UMNO into BERSATU and engaging with opposition parties such as PAS. This move was interpreted by some as an effort to expand political support and provide flexibility regarding the leadership transition. Reports suggest that the growing calls for a definitive timeline led to accelerated political developments, culminating in key events on 23 February.
23 February On 23 February 2020, several political parties held extraordinary meetings: BERSATU at its headquarters at Menara Yayasan Selangor in Petaling Jaya, Muafakat Nasional pact of UMNO and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) had a retreat in Janda Baik, Pahang, UMNO's supreme council at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)'s members of the parliament (MPs) in Kuala Lumpur. Azmin Ali, the deputy president of PKR and the Minister of Economic Affairs, also held a meeting with several lawmakers from the party and twenty others at Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya, amidst rumours that the formation of a new governing coalition was being undertaken. The event was widely reported on local media as Langkah Sheraton or the Sheraton Move.
Azmin and his faction in PKR went to the Istana Negara in the evening to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Leaders from five other political parties; BERSATU's Muhyiddin Yassin, also the Minister of Home Affairs, UMNO's Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS's Hadi Awang, GPS's Abang Johari Openg and Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan)'s Shafie Apdal were also in attendance.See update at 7:11pm - Istana Negara It was speculated that the leaders were there to brief the Agong about the recent political development; the formation of a new coalition government and to declare their support for a new prime minister, effectively blocking PKR's president Anwar Ibrahim from the position. After the meeting, several opposition party leaders, including UMNO's Ismail Sabri Yaakob and PAS's Hadi Awang, joined Azmin's supporters at Sheraton Hotel.