On April 16, Zahid sent a letter to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin recommending four UMNO Sabah leaders for government positions: Kinabatangan member of parliament (MP) Bung Mokhtar Radin as chairman of the Federal Development Agency; Kimanis MP Mohamad Alamin as a deputy minister, former Minister Rahman Dahlan as a senator; and Yakub Khan as the chairman of the Labuan Port Authority. About a week later, Zahid reinstated Tanjong Karang MP, Noh Omar, as the UMNO Selangor state chief. These could sway the direction of an emergency general meeting (EGM).

…Prashant Waikar is a Senior Analyst with the Malaysia Programme in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU).