THE cracks between Umno and Pakatan Harapan are getting harder to ignore.
At the Umno general assembly, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim faced open criticism from his own coalition partner, while Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also pushed to bring the next general election forward.
Political analyst Dr Azmi Hassan said the tension was hardly surprising.
He pointed to the PKR congress in Melaka and the PH convention in Johor Bahru, where Barisan Nasional and Umno leaders had also been criticised despite being part of the same federal government.
“So when Umno attacks Anwar at its own gathering, it is expected,” Azmi said.
But he believes the bigger issue is where the relationship between the two sides is heading.
“Cooperation between BN and PH is very far from the cooperation within PN,” he said.
“The signal is that BN’s cooperation with PH is extremely thin. It is as if the bridge has been burned.”
Prof James Chin of Tasmania University sees the situation in similarly stark terms.
For him, the problem is that Umno is no longer simply disagreeing with the government.
It is a major part of that government while some of its leaders are openly working against it.
“You have a situation where Umno is part of the government but is undermining the government,” Chin said.
He described Umno as “the second most important party in the government now undermining the government.”
Chin believes the relationship began turning sour after the Negeri Sembilan by-election, when PH suffered a heavy defeat against Umno.
Now, with Zahid calling for an earlier election, Chin sees the possibility that Umno is already looking beyond the current coalition.
The Umno-PAS question
One of the biggest questions is whether Umno and PAS could eventually put their differences aside and work together.
Chin believes that possibility should not be dismissed, pointing to the prospect of the two parties combining forces in places such as Melaka.
An Umno-PAS alliance would change the electoral equation considerably, particularly among Malay voters who form a key battleground for both parties.
But Chin is careful about one thing: keeping Umno and PAS together is no easy task.
“If Umno-PAS can hold together, and that is a big if, then Anwar is finished,” he said.
Even if Umno were to leave the government, however, Chin does not expect Anwar to immediately lose power.
He estimates the government could still have around 115 to 120 MPs behind it.
The problem would be the size of the majority.
“A thin majority is always a dangerous thing to play with in Malaysian politics,” Chin said.
That would leave Anwar with little room for political manoeuvre and vulnerable to any further shifts in support.
For now, Chin believes Anwar faces a difficult choice: force Zahid and Umno to make a clearer commitment to PH, or continue allowing Umno to remain in government while some of its leaders undermine the coalition from within.
Anwar doesn’t bite
Amid all the political sparring, Anwar’s own response was notable for what it did not contain.
There was no direct attack on Zahid. No rebuttal. No mention of Umno’s criticism.
Instead, Anwar was in New Delhi, India, for the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, representing Malaysia on the international stage.
In a Facebook post, he wrote about arriving safely in New Delhi and his diplomatic mission, while talking about the opportunity for his “students” to learn how MADANI diplomacy is translated.
And then, after all the formal language, came one word:
“Slayyy.”
It was a strikingly casual sign-off against the backdrop of a growing political fight at home.
Whether Anwar was deliberately refusing to be drawn into the exchange or simply choosing to focus on his overseas engagement, he gave Zahid no public response through the post.
The political questions, however, remain.
Umno is still in government. PH is still in government. But the increasingly open attacks between the two sides are making the partnership look less like a stable political arrangement and more like one that is being tested in public.
Azmi sees a bridge that may already have been burned.
Chin sees a potentially dangerous road ahead if Umno and PAS manage to walk it together.
For Anwar, the challenge is keeping his government intact while figuring out whether Umno still wants to be part of the journey. – September 12, 2026
