COMMENT | The only way out of the current political quandary is for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to call for a general election. However, the timing is wrong. Right now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, protecting lives comes first.

Yet, an election will come, sooner or later. We need to prepare for it. To understand the current political chaos, we have to appreciate a three-kingdom situation, whether in terms of political coalitions or voting blocs.

The Three Kingdoms from 220 to 280 AD were the tripartite division of China among the states of Wei, Shu, and Wu. The Chinese legend tells the epic story of savage competitions among the three states, all claiming to unite the nation. In both fact and fiction, it is a tale of political coalitions, diplomacy, and trickery amidst a lot of plot twists.

Evolution of coalitions

Malaysians were used to the dominance of a single political hegemon, in the form of the Alliance and later BN, from the 1959 general election to the 2008 political tsunami.

By 2008, a direct confrontation between two coalitions emerged until the Sheraton coup in February 2020 which toppled the newly elected Pakatan Harapan federal government. Now we have entered a three-way fight which is expected to last for quite a while, at least until the dust settles after the next general election...