Malaysia’s Mahathir will not hand over power in 2020

Significance

Mahathir, who leads the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), in 2018 promised to pass the premiership to Anwar, president of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), within two years. The PKR, the largest party within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance, last week held an acrimonious party conference.

Impacts

• Gradually improving economic conditions could reduce the pressure on Mahathir to expedite the prime ministerial handover.
• Mahathir will increasingly appeal to Malay-Muslim sentiment, aiming to neutralise the opposition’s growing challenge.
• PH leadership will downplay the significance of any by-election losses in 2020, since the general election is some three years away.