Will Malaysia’s Umno pull the plug on coalition partner PH?

The political impasse in Malaysia’s government has regressed to a game of chicken, experts say, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the former ruling Umno party trading barbs and dares as pressure grows for snap polls with more than a year left to term.Relations between Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and erstwhile rivals Umno have hit its lowest point since the two sides cut a deal to form a unity government in 2022, after a series of recent state polls that saw PH all but decimated at the hands of Umno.The lopsided victories in Johor and Negeri Sembilan over the past two months have since emboldened Umno to demand that a general election be held immediately.Voters in Ampangan, Seremban, in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state queue to cast their votes for the state election on August 1. Photo: Ushar DanieleAt the closing of the party’s general assembly on Saturday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said it was now up to Anwar to decide whether he wanted the government to remain in political limbo or seek a fresh mandate to rule.