KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance ( MUDA) announced on Sunday( Sept. 10 ) that it would be leaving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition due to corruption concerns following the dismissal of graft charges against the deputy premier of the nation.
The youth-focused MUDA only has one elected senator, so leaving won’t have an impact on the security of the government alliance, but it might prevent Anwar from gaining a two-thirds majority in parliament, which would be necessary for passing constitutional amendments and other significant reforms.
The action by MUDA comes after prosecutors last week dropped dozens of charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the leader of the corrupt United Malay National Organization( UMNO ) party, whose support Anwar needs to keep a majority in parliament.
Anwar has argued that he had nothing to do with the decision to drop the event, which sparked a strong public backlash.
Dropping the scenario, according to MUDA, had raised a number of issues and went against the government’s pledge to combat corruption and uphold the rule of law.
According to MUDA, the choice has tainted the nation’s legal systems, and it appears that the state is normalizing the culture of corruption.
If the state needs a two-thirds bulk vote to implement administrative reforms, MUDA said it will help it even if it joins the opposition as the third force.
A request for comment was not instantly answered by the prime minister’s office.
After a contentious general election in November of last year, Anwar took office and teamed up with former rival UMNO to overthrow the impassed congress and establish the state.
Due to widespread outrage over fraud allegations against Ahmad Zahid and former top Najib Razak, UMNO was ousted from office for the first time in Malaysia’s record in 2018. Both have vehemently denied error.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year prison term for bribery connected to the multi-billion money state fund 1MDB scandal and is facing additional bribery charges.