Two ambitious men eyeing Bersatu presidency

It is an open secret that Datuk Seri Azmin Ali is on a comeback bid for the Bersatu leadership but he will have to take on the equally ambitious Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.

BERSATU has often been mocked as a "pond" for frogs from other parties. Yet the party is holding two of the most important posts on the opposition side.

Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin is the Opposition leader in Parliament while Datuk Seri Azmin Ali is the leader of the Opposition in the Selangor state assembly.

Both men have shone in their own way, bringing their own style and personality to the job.

Hamzah was a somewhat bashful Umno politician who preferred to wield his clout behind the scenes.

But the silver-haired Larut MP has emerged from behind the curtain after leaving Umno, becoming more aggressive in his oratory and jabs at his opponents – especially in Parliament, which he sometimes treats like a ceramah stage. It is as though Hamzah has been reborn after abandoning Umno for Bersatu.

Hamzah, said Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Ahmad Kamal, is confident and composed and able to feel the pulse of the commonfolk.

"He is also a brotherly figure to our MPs in resolving tensions and stalemates during debates. But his Opposition leader role is more pronounced outside the house because he keeps everyone glued to the Perikatan Nasional cause," said Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who is also Machang MP.

Azmin, on the other hand, has brought meaning to the role of an Opposition leader.

The Hulu Kelang assemblyman is methodological and meticulous in preparing his team from PAS and Bersatu for each Selangor assembly sitting. He holds retreats where experts are invited to give talks on how to prepare for the budget sitting or debating the Sultan's royal address.

He has also set up a Perikatan secretariat managed by lawyer Sasha Lyna Abdul Latiff, which researches issues that Perikatan assemblymen want to raise in the state assembly.

"He wants the Opposition bench to be professional and factual. He makes sure all of us submit questions and pushes us to focus on issues of governance that affect the people," said Taman Medan assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin.

Azmin also understands the power of optics. He drives himself to state assembly sittings and walks into the building with his briefcase and stack of files, signalling that he is there on serious matters.

Reporters covering the two sittings since the August state elections agree that Azmin has stolen the thunder, giving the Mentri Besar a run for the money and making the Speaker look like a confused amateur.

Hamzah and Azmin are in the running to take over from Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The trouble is that the party constitution stipulates that only those who have served two full terms in the supreme council are eligible to contest for the presidency.

Neither man can go for the top post at the party polls due later this year and have to wait for the next election. Anyway, it is now a moot point because Muhyiddin has declared he is staying on for another term.

Azmin was quite down after losing the Gombak parliamentary seat to Datuk Seri Amiruddin Shari in 2022 because it put Hamzah, who retained Larut, ahead of him. It is an unspoken convention that the president of a party has to be an MP.

But Azmin's star started sparkling again after he led Perikatan to capture 22 out of 56 seats in the Selangor election. It was an amazing outcome that saw Selangor's Malay heartland fall like dominoes to Perikatan and he impressed the party with the way he ran the campaign.

With Muhyiddin holding on for three more years, it means that the next party election will likely happen after the general election, giving Azmin another shot at Parliament which will place him on an equal footing with Hamzah.

If the big fight is still such a long way off, why do both men seem like sprinters on their mark, waiting for the starting gun to go off?

A party insider said both Hamzah and Azmin want to gain a head start by getting their allies into the party leadership council (MPT or majlis pimpinan tinggi) at the coming party polls.

"It will be an election of proxies for control of the MPT. Both of them will have their own line-up of candidates for the MPT. We will then have a clearer idea of who is stronger after that," said the insider.

Muhyiddin was ridiculed for announcing his retirement at the last party AGM and changing his mind the next day. He said his wife persuaded him not to let the party down.

However, those in the know claimed he was testing the mood and perhaps, the loyalty of the two ambitious men waiting to take over. Deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu was so angry with the retirement announcement that he said to Muhyiddin, "I am very upset with you, sir" and walked off almost in tears.

Muhyiddin was quite shrewd in deciding to hold the fort for a while longer. Bersatu needs to stay intact for the next big battle because Perikatan has its sights set on the next general election.

Neither the court charges against Muhyiddin nor the fact that his son-in-law is a fugitive have dented his standing and he is still what Dr Afif calls the "reigning force in the party".

Moreover, the Bersatu MPs who pledged support to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim have angered the Malays, who see it as a betrayal.

"Muhyiddin is holding the cards and delegates at the next AGM will try to read what he wants," said the insider.

Who does Muhyiddin favour as a potential successor? It is no secret that Muhyiddin is grateful to Azmin and would not have become prime minister without his support. He has yet to repay that debt to Azmin.

Moreover, said the above insider, Muhyiddin appreciates that Azmin has been loyal and respectful to him through the party's ups and downs.

Hamzah's advantage is that he appears to have the support of PAS leaders who find him easy to work with. PAS leaders also think that Hamzah will be able to bring Umno leaders over to Perikatan should the next general election end in another hung Parliament.

The rivalry between the two leaders will intensify but they will also strive to perform in their respective roles and that will be good because every effective government needs a fierce opposition.

The views expressed here are the author's own