KUALA LUMPUR: The four Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) members of parliament who declared support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did that due to a trust deficit towards its own party leadership.
Analyst Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said their supposed reasoning that they did so for the sake of their constituents' wellbeing was a camouflage over their real intentions.
"They lost confidence in their party's and Perikatan Nasional's (PN) leadership. This is due to them being unable to become an effective opposition.
"Bersatu and Pas representatives are clamouring in the numbers game when it comes to their wishes to take over Putrajaya; and these MPs are unable to sustain themselves as a good opposition," he said when contacted by the New Straits Times today.
Azmi also agreed with an opinion that other opposition MPs will likely follow suit after the four Bersatu MPs declared their support to Anwar's leadership.
He said other MPs were closely observing the public's reactions following the move by these four Bersatu MPs.
"However, I do not see Pas MP will be doing the same as they are known for being loyal partymen," he added.
Another political analyst Mujibu Abd Muis said the reasons given by the four Bersatu MPs to pledge their support for Anwar was acceptable. He said the reasoning that "it was done for the sake of their respective constituents" did not quite hold water.
Instead, he said Bersatu MPs were feeling the pressure to deliver, especially being first-time opposition members with limited resources at their disposal.
He said this probably led to these MPs feeling the pressure of bringing positive developments for their constituents, but being from the opposition, they could not do all that.
"Imagine them visiting constituents but without any allocations to disburse, of course they will feel pressured.
"Unlike Pas, Bersatu has never become an opposition. Even when they left Pakatan Harapan (PH), they had still been in the government side until now.
"For Pas, they are used to being the opposition, so they are able to manage the pressure well.
"Besides, Pas is leading four states, so the state governments are able to offset the shortcomings from their MPs," said Mujibu, adding it would be impossible for Pas to want to support Anwar too.
Four Bersatu MPs declared support towards Anwar and the unity government with the latest being Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim.
Azizi had said the move would allow his constituents to enjoy all sorts of benefits and initiatives, including the upgrading of infrastructure facilities which he had requested for Gua Musang during his tenure.
The reasons are similar between the other three MPs.