KUALA LUMPUR: The resignation of Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to join Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has sparked reactions from both parties, bringing ties between the two ruling coalition partners into the spotlight. 

Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did not mince his words over the weekend, and was quoted by local media as saying that “it is unethical for any parties within the unity government to accept another member from an ally”.

He also said UMNO should retain its quota of seven ministerial posts in the Cabinet despite Tengku Zafrul leaving the party. 

On his part, Anwar said on Sunday (Jun 1) that Tengku Zafrul’s ministerial duties will “remain unchanged”. 

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“We want him to continue his work, especially in the investment portfolio. His contributions are still needed by the country,” Anwar told local news outlet Malay Mail at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair. 

The PKR president also said that his party has not had any official discussions regarding Tengku Zafrul’s application, urging the public and media to avoid “excessive interpretations” of the minister’s decision to quit UMNO on Friday. 

“Yes, he has applied to join PKR but we have not deliberated on it thoroughly. For now, let it be … There’s no need for excessive interpretations that might be unhealthy,” Anwar added, as quoted by Malay Mail. 

He also assured that Tengku Zafrul’s application will be reviewed with fairness, in consultation with the party’s grassroots. 

Tengku Zafrul’s defection comes just days after two Cabinet ministers from PKR resigned from their posts.

On Wednesday, Malaysia’s Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli resigned from his post following his defeat in PKR leadership polls to Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah. Hours later, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, seen as an ally of Rafizi, followed suit. 

Confirming Tengku Zafrul’s resignation from his party, Zahid said on Saturday that this would mean that the party’s number of ministers has dropped to six, adding that it is “only fair” for UMNO to request the ministerial seat to be returned to the party.

“To me, what’s more important is that UMNO remains represented by seven full ministers in the Cabinet. Although we are unsure whether Tengku Zafrul’s appointment was on UMNO’s ticket, we had assumed he represented the party,” Zahid was quoted as saying by Malay Mail at an event in Sarawak.

Zahid said that although Tengku Zafrul had claimed to be an UMNO member since 1997, he had never mentioned that he was representing UMNO when he was appointed to the Cabinet in 2023, The Star reported.

With Tengku Zafrul’s exit from UMNO, the party is now left with six Cabinet members, namely Zahid himself, Mohamad Hasan, Johari Ghani, Khaled Nordin, Zambry Abdul Kadir and Azalina Othman Said. 

Each party in Anwar's unity government has a set number of ministerial posts allocated, based loosely on their number of seats in the legislative assembly. PKR has eight ministerial posts.

Zahid also said that his party’s legal team will review whether Tengku Zafrul has breached the agreement signed during the 15th General Election in 2022 which binds candidates to the party.

He highlighted that party candidates who leave may face a RM100 million (US$23.5 million) fine based on their sworn statements, Free Malaysia Today reported.

In August last year, local media had reported Zahid as saying that all UMNO elected representatives who quit to join another party must pay a RM100 million bond which they had agreed upon when becoming Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates.

This would apply to every BN assemblymen or member of parliament, the New Straits Times reported then. UMNO is the lynchpin party of the BN coalition. 

“Tengku Zafrul contested and lost but was reappointed as a senator, so I will need to check with UMNO legal advisors first,” he said. 

Zahid also said that he had held discussions with Tengku Zafrul in Parliament three months ago and Tengku Zafrul had not raised the issue of leaving his party, The Star reported. 

In December last year, Anwar admitted that Tengku Zafrul was in preliminary talks with his party, despite UMNO saying it would not allow any such move.

In a Facebook post on Friday night, Tengku Zafrul said he had tendered his resignation as an UMNO supreme council member, a Kota Raja division chief and a party member. 

He had quit his position as Selangor UMNO treasurer in April last year, sparking speculations that he would leave and join PKR, The Star reported. 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR TENGKU ZAFRUL? 

Meanwhile, Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari has dismissed speculation that Tengku Zafrul and himself will be switching roles following the minister’s decision to join PKR. 

Amirudin, who is the PKR vice-president, said that talks of Tengku Zafrul possibly taking over his position as Chief Minister was far-fetched due to complexity of the processes involved within a short period.

“In my view, it’s rather long and complicated. I don’t think that Tengku Zafrul vying for the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) post is feasible because it would require a by-election,” he said on Saturday, reported The Star. 

“We only have about two-and-a-half years left in this term, so there’s not much that can be re-organised within that time frame. We’ll have to wait and see how things develop,” Amirudin, who is also the Selangor PKR chief, added. 

Amirudin also said that Tengku Zafrul’s potential move to PKR would further strengthen the party’s credibility, expressing confidence that they could work well together, New Straits Times reported. 

In his statement on Friday, Tengku Zafrul said the decision to leave UMNO was made after considering various factors, especially “compatibility and conformity factors”. 

The minister added that he took a long time to consider his decision, as UMNO was the only political party he had joined since 1997. 

PKR’s secretary-general Fuziah Salleh said that the party will take into account various perspectives, including the views of its partners in the unity government, when processing membership applications from individuals wishing to join the party.