14 UMNO MPs that are ready to leave the unity government? Facts or fiction?

14 UMNO MPs that are ready to leave the unity government? Facts or fiction?


25 Mar 2025 • 9:00 AM MYT


TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: Sinar Harian / Focus Malaysia


If you remember, in the post 911 period, when America and the West was fighting against militant entities like ISIS or Al- Qaeda, the militant entities will regularly release a video warning, where they will send a warning to America and its allies in the West, to warn them that it is planning an imminent attack on them.


Have you ever wondered why they sent these messages in the first place?


If they were serious about actually launching an attack, why telegraph it? Wouldn’t it be better to keep their plans a secret and have the element of surprise on their side?


Well the answer is likely because more than launching an attack or having the element of surprise in their side, what entities like Al Qaeda and ISIS were more concerned about, is to project an image of strength and success.


Entities like Al Qaeda or ISIS, we must remember, were far vastly outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered by Americans and their allies throughout their conflict. As a matter of fact, you might even say that they were forced to flee or retreat for much of their conflict with the Americans and the allies.


However, the fact that they were likely being forced to flee and retreat , might cause their supporters to be demotivated and make the rest of the world stop believing that they are a force to be reckoned with.


It is to prevent themselves from being forgotten and to rally their supporters even when they were confronted with overwhelming odds, that these militant entities will often send warnings to America and the west, as if to prove to the world that it is still a force to be reckoned and to motivate its supporters into believing that victory is still possible.


I see similarities in what Al-Qaeda or ISIS used to do, with what our the opponents of the unity government might be doing today , as seen by the warning published by Edisi Siasat, about how 14 Umno MP’s are on standby to go against the unity government, for the sake of party.


I believe that the warning, like the Al Qaeda and ISIS message to America and its allies once upon a time ago, does not represent reality.


Rather, like the message that Al Qaeda and ISIS sent to the west, it is most probably just a warning that those who oppose the unity government are delivering to the nation, in order to motivate their supporters and stop them from giving up hope that victory is still within reach, and to remind everybody else that the opponents of the unity government are still a force to be reckoned with.


In reality however, the opposition is likely being hammered or forced to retreat by the Anwar led PH government.


The fact of the matter is that even if there are actually 14 UMNO MP’s that are willing to turncoat, the number is too small to cause a change in government. The unity government enjoys more than a two thirds majority, or 152 seats in the house. Losing 14 MP's might bring down its number to 138, but this still far more than the 112 it needs to maintain its rule.


It is doubtful as to whether UMNO MP’s are even selected on the basis of their willingness to fight for race, religion and country. In all likelihood, UMNO MP’s are probably selected due to their loyalty to the warlords in UMNO , of which Zahid Hamidi, on account of being the UMNO President, is the chief warlord.


Zahid Hamidi however, does not look like he is the least bit interested in leaving the unity government.


It could have been the case that another high ranking UMNO warlord is the one that is planning to switch sides, and he was able to get 14 UMNO MP’s that were aligned to him to do the same, but even if that is the case, that plan was likely thwarted when Ismail Sabri, the person that was purported to replace Anwar as the PM after he was toppled, found himself under investigation by the authorities after being implicated ina RM 170 million corruption charges.


Even if the 14 MP’s were to switch sides, the conspirators will still need another major component in the unity government, most likely GPS from Sarawak, to also simultaneously switch sides, in order to get the numbers that will make it possible to affect a change of government.


It is hard to see why GPS would be interested to do so, when GPS is unlikely to get a better deal from the the opposition than it is getting from the unity government.


GPS might be struggling to get its oil and gas rights as well as 35 percent of parliament seats that was promised to it from Anwar and the unity government, but there is no reason for it to believe that it will be able to secure what it wants from the opponents of the unity government, even if it aids them to initiate a government change.


It is actually very dangerous and risky for a multicultural coalition like GPS, to throw its weight behind the opponent of the unity government, especially when any such opposition will likely be headed by a conservative group like PN.


PN, for example, has most recently mooted for constitutional changes to be affected to ensure that the position of PM to only be permissible to a Malay-Muslim. It is difficult to see how GPS will be able to explain to its voters, who are mostly non-Muslims no-Malays, why it switched sides to PN, when PN advocates for such hard stances on race and religion.


And even if against all odds, the opponents of the unity government manages to convince GPS to take its 23 MP's and switch side, the unity government will still have 115 seats, which is 3 more than the simple majority it needs to continue to rule.


At the end of the day, the opponents of the unity government might be able to keep its head above waters and buy some time, by coming up with such warnings as “beware, there are 14 UMNO MP’s that are willing to switch sides at the drop of a hat”, to motivate its supporters, keep the unity government on its feet and prove to everyone else that it is still a force to be reckoned with, but in the end, what PN will have to do in order to actually secure victory, is move the heart and mind of the voters, to be against the government and be for the opposition.


So far, the the opponents of the unity government is failing abysmally to do so.


Given that this is the case, I believe very strongly, that the rumour that there are 14 UMNO MP’s that are ever ready to leave the unity government, is chiefly an illusion that the detractors of the unity government has created, in order to keep its hopes alive, rather than an actual representation of the reality on the ground.