Muhyiddin's arrest looms as political temperature looks set to rise

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin is believed to be next on the list of opposition leaders to be charged, with MalaysiaNow reliably learning that the former prime minister could be arrested and brought to court as early as tomorrow.

It was not immediately clear the nature of the charge to be brought against the Bersatu president, who headed the government during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But this comes after weeks of accusations by government leaders against Bersatu, followed by the questioning of party leaders over alleged abuses linked to JanaWibawa, a post-Covid programme to help Bumiputera contractors.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has also frozen the bank accounts of Bersatu, resulting in the party being unable to pay for its day-to-day operations.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Bersatu's former information chief and the MP for Tasek Gelugor, as well as another party leader were later arrested and charged by MACC.

Any move to arrest Muhyiddin is likely to raise the political temperature, with PN leaders warning of a major crackdown by the Anwar Ibrahim administration ahead of polls in six states, five with critical Malay electorates whose support the ruling coalitions Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional lost to PN in the general election last year.

MalaysiaNow is awaiting a response from MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki on the latest speculation.