This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 13, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Unlike Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is unlikely to be sacked from his deputy president post in Umno as he is not taking the same path Anwar did 17 years ago, observers said.

This, they said, is because Muhyiddin has not gone around the country to build a rebellion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak since his removal from the Cabinet three months ago.

They added that it was not enough to get Muhyiddin sacked from Umno despite his vocal criticism of the prime minister’s handling of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd financial controversy and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s accounts.

“Muhyiddin has not gone to the grass roots to explain what happened. His movement is slow and he is not investing in ways to increase support for himself,” said former Wangsa Maju Umno Youth chief Shahbudin Husin.

Shahbudin said Muhyiddin’s criticism had only temporarily turned up the heat for Najib, but it failed to galvanise the grass roots against the party president.

“Muhyiddin has a lot of criticism, but it does not leave a deep impact on the grass roots. The grass roots also do not look serious if Muhyiddin himself is not,” said Shahbudin.

It was widely speculated that Muhyiddin would be sacked from Umno at a much anticipated party supreme council meeting last month after he was removed from the Cabinet.

But no such thing happened. Instead, Muhyiddin expressed his support for Najib to continue as president.

Anwar lost his deputy president post in Umno a few days after he was sacked as deputy prime minister on Sept 2, 1998, by then prime minister and Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Anwar then started a movement to oust Dr Mahathir.

Former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said Muhyiddin’s influence within Umno had been slowly neutralised after he was removed from Najib’s administration.

“Najib’s calculation is that he does not need to sack the deputy president as he can slowly kill him off through patronage. Even though [Muhyiddin] is the deputy president, what can he do?” said Zainuddin.

He also said Najib did not want to complicate matters in Umno after his controversial Cabinet reshuffle in which Muhyiddin and party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal were removed.

“If he does sack Muhyiddin, it will make matters worse and he will be seen as really cruel.”

Muhyiddin and Anwar are also different by virtue of the fact that Muhyiddin secured his post twice in party elections, first by defeating Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib in 2009, and later by winning uncontested in 2013. — The Malaysian Insider