Hamzah usaha satu blok parti politik lawan Anwar

Hamzah Zainudin, a seasoned politician who aided two powerful premiers, might again become a political operator in determining who will govern after attempting to unite the country's two largest parties. Since launching the Vision of Nation Party in June, Hamzah has officially become the leader of the opposition in Parliament with PAS's support.

Hamzah's goal is to bring PAS into a national coalition with Umno, uniting two major parties representing Malay and Islam that make up nearly 60% of the population. If realized, such a coalition could challenge Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's unity government, which made Umno a working partner since the 2022 PRU after no party succeeded in securing a simple majority to form a government.

This coalition would also create a large and influential political alliance leading up to the upcoming PRU, scheduled to be held early 2028. "What I try to plant in their minds is: 'You are Malays, sit down and talk,'" Hamzah said in an interview on September 17 at his office in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur. "In this country, Malays are the majority, and if Malays do not unite, how can a country be stable?"

Umno and PAS successfully collaborated in the 2020 State of Negeri Sembilan PRN when they agreed not to field candidates against each other and ultimately expelled Anwar's PRH government from the state. They are now considering the same rule for Melaka, which is scheduled to hold a PRN in two months. While Hamzah claims to play a role in uniting Umno and PAS, he downplays the need for them as a mediator at the moment.

Both party leaders have recently held their annual meetings, openly expressing their desire to continue their national-level cooperation. This has frustrated Anwar, and those close to him say his relationship with Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi has become strained. Zahid, who is also Umno's president, urges for early PRU, indicating Umno wants to break its coalition with Anwar's PRH government.

Malaysia's complex political system aims to ensure that the economic and other privileges of Malay Muslims, who have held the position of Prime Minister since independence in 1957, are received, while the traditional coalition government gives seats to China, India, and other minority communities in the country. Hamzah, who began his political career in Umno and now works with Vision that became PAS's ally, remains in a good position to help establish differences between the two parties that have been competing for Malay Islamic votes for decades.

The 69-year-old plays a crucial role in gathering parliamentary support that brought Muhyiddin Yassin to the top position in 2020, including obtaining support from Umno and PAS. This move pushed out Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who acknowledged Hamzah's role in forging cooperation between the two largest Malay parties. Muhyiddin then appointed Hamzah as senior advisor to Bersatu.

When Muhyiddin lost his parliamentary majority only a year later, Hamzah helped gather support for Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the next prime minister. Senior political science professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia, Syaza Farhana Shukri, said that the new election alliance consisting of Malaysia's major Malay parties is still possible.

However, she said, Muhyiddin's administration is plagued by internal power struggles, while Malaysia's Malay nationalism has long caused the party to clash with the more clearly Islamic vision of PAS. "Political unity of Malays is difficult to achieve because each party only thinks about itself," Syaza said. Hamzah was removed from Bersatu in February following a leadership crisis involving Muhyiddin.

He said the newly established Vision party has successfully attracted more than 50,000 members in almost three months, and he expects that number to reach 300,000 by the end of the year. Unlike other Malay parties, Vision allows non-Malays to be regular members and hold leadership positions, with the presidency reserved for Malays.

Hamzah, who began his political career with Umno, won his parliamentary seat in 2008 on an Umno ticket but left the party following the 1MDB corruption scandal that led to Umno's first national defeat in 2018. He joined Bersatu after being urged to stay in politics by deputy finance minister Daim Zainuddin, who helped bring Hamzah into politics in the early 2000s.

Hamzah considers PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, a cleric, as his mentor, and their relationship led to PAS's announcement in June that Hamzah would return as the leader of the opposition. PAS leader Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar remains as the chairman of Perikatan Nasional. Hamzah is the only person who can speak with Zahid and Hadi," said Sya.