FEW were convinced last year that the government made possible by the majority faction of Bersatu and Umno would last the month, let alone a year. Yet we have just past that very mark and are, amazingly, still intact as a country.

For all the reasons and justifications given, for the most part, not much has changed, other than the leadership.

Despite the hullaballoo, issues like the late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, race relations, BMF and RUU 355 remain status quo.

Pledges to re-examine vernacular education and other issues remain largely pledges.

Some chief complaints, like the economy and Covid-19 actually seem to be worse.

For Umno, any hope of their leaders getting off any hooks fizzled with most cases being told to enter their defence.

The political situation has not really stabilised much either.

From the get-go, defections were the order of the day, occurring on a weekly basis.

Things calmed down a bit midway, with the pandemic under control, and the economy opening up, only for another political manoeuvre, ending in the dissolution of the Sabah state assembly and snap polls, which only served to worsen both the political impasse and Covid-19 situation.

Infection numbers escalated steadily while on both sides of the divide, the political buzz continued. Dissatisfaction brewed into open skirmishes and members from Umno openly criticised and, in the case of some individuals, publicly withdrew support from a government of which their party is a part.

Factions of the party also threatened to withdraw support more than once.

It was not an easy rise to the middle, but against all odds, the ruling coalition still stands.

Tall enough that it marks its first anniversary, ironically, with two crossovers.

However, maintaining a second year may even be harder.

One year in, Umno, the largest party in all three “nasional” coalitions, does not seem fully keen in sharing the centre stage with Bersatu, preferring to steer its Barisan Nasional (BN) members to strengthen its Muafakat partnership with PAS’s Gagasan Sejahtera.

While PAS has largely pussyfooted around the issue, only a few Umno leaders are still vocal about supporting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Bersatu going into the next general election. The others possibly believe that BN and Umno fortunes would be better off going at it alone.

Both Gagasan and Barisan face similar issues. While both are on paper multiracial coalitions, an overwhelming majority of its members are Malay-Muslim, and nearly all of their elected representatives are as well.

While this makes the party appealing on a Malay-Muslim platform, it creates three issues: a vacuum for Borneo-based political parties; makes it a hard-sell for non-Muslims; and internal competition for prestige to being the champion for the Malay-Muslim community.

Bersatu has all these problems, plus a trust deficit from some supporters from the perception of being a key player and enabler in the “Sheraton Move”, as well as being the new kid on the Perikatan Nasional bloc, yet playing a role as its convenor and de facto leader.

While the party, on paper, accepts multiracial members, the large majority of its elected representatives come from Umno.

Furthermore, a bulk of its MPs and assemblymen are crossovers from either Umno or PKR, while the party itself lacks a solid internal structure like PAS or Umno.

On top of which, while the PAS-held East Coast was relatively unscathed from the 2018 Pakatan Harapan tsunami, its West Coast members, like those of Umno, will not easily forget Bersatu’s damaging campaign that brought down BN.

The days and months ahead will certainly be ponderous for all three Malay-Muslim parties and their allies, but while PH continues fiddling on its direction and dogged infighting, they still have some time to do some soul searching and alliance hunting. For now, at least. – March 3, 2021.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.