CLAIMS of a long-running internal campaign to unseat Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Bersatu president have resurfaced amid an increasingly public exchange between current and former party leaders, raising fresh questions about factional divisions within the opposition movement.
Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad, former principal private secretary to Muhyiddin, alleged that attempts to remove the former prime minister from the party's top post began as early as 2021, shortly after the collapse of the Perikatan Nasional administration and Muhyiddin's resignation as prime minister.
According to Marzuki, recent statements made by former Bersatu leaders Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal effectively confirmed the existence of a faction that promoted former deputy president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin as a more suitable leader than Muhyiddin.
He claimed that party division leaders were repeatedly told that Hamzah enjoyed stronger grassroots support, possessed broader influence within the party structure and was better positioned to lead Bersatu into the future.
“Actually, the writings of both of them confirm what I previously wrote about the movement by Hamzah’s group to remove Tan Sri Muhyiddin as Bersatu president through unconstitutional means.
“As both of them have acknowledged, this was precisely the narrative they promoted to Bersatu division chiefs.
“Allegedly Hamzah had the support of this person and that person, Hamzah spent more than this person and that person, Hamzah was more approachable than this person and that person. For those reasons, Hamzah was supposedly more qualified to become president,” he said in a Facebook post.
Marzuki argued that while there was nothing inherently wrong with evaluating leadership candidates based on influence or popularity, he found it puzzling that several figures who had once been among Muhyiddin's strongest supporters appeared to shift their allegiance shortly after he lost federal power.
“If these are the criteria for selecting a leader, then so be it. I have no issue with that. What puzzles me is that both of these Wans changed direction and began supporting Hamzah as soon as Muhyiddin stepped down as prime minister in 2021.
“Hamzah’s movement to remove Muhyiddin had already begun at that point. Before that, they were among his most loyal supporters.
“These were the reasons I heard as to why they no longer liked Muhyiddin and preferred Hamzah instead. But if that is the case, why did they campaign as part of the President’s team during the 2024 party elections?
“In fact, they travelled throughout the country promoting themselves as the team carrying the President’s mandate. The person leading the President’s Mandate campaign was Hamzah himself.
“I think both of these Wans do not really know Hamzah. Those who know him will understand,” he said.
The allegations come after Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, the Member of Parliament for Machang, reportedly suggested that Muhyiddin viewed Hamzah as a potential threat to his ambition of returning to Putrajaya through Perikatan Nasional, given Hamzah's significant influence among party leaders and grassroots members.
Marzuki contended that the latest remarks from Wan Saiful and Wan Ahmad Fayhsal lend credibility to longstanding claims that efforts had been underway to reposition Hamzah as the party's future leader, despite public displays of unity during previous party elections.
The dispute has once again exposed underlying tensions within Bersatu at a time when the party is seeking to consolidate opposition support and strengthen Perikatan Nasional's position ahead of the next general election.
While neither Hamzah nor the two former party leaders have directly responded to Marzuki's latest accusations, the public exchange highlights the continuing contest over leadership, influence and succession within one of Malaysia's most significant opposition parties.
The renewed war of words is also likely to fuel speculation over whether Bersatu can maintain internal cohesion as it prepares for future electoral battles, with questions over loyalty, leadership succession and strategic direction increasingly being aired in public rather than behind closed doors. - May 31, 2026
