Mahathir’s proposals to reduce living costs, a key part of ‘New Malaysia’ that had propelled the bloc’s win, was met with growing discontent in his coalition party. At the same time Muhyiddin’s new coalition appears similarly disparate, raising just as many questions about policy direction if it manages to survive Mahathir’s no-confidence vote and avoid a snap election. “There doesn’t seem to be a strong sense of ideological direction,” Johan Saravanamuttu, an adj senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said of Malaysia’s new government. “I’m wondering how long that coalition will hold together.”