After accusing Dr Mahathir Mohamad of making U-turns, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself made a U-turn on Wednesday, on the proposed bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 or Act 355.

Malaysiakini spoke to several political analysts to get their views on what motivated the prime minister to make such a stand.

According to Phoon Wing Keong, the main objective of the Act 355 agenda was to create a rift in Pakatan Rakyat, the now defunct opposition coalition comprising PAS, PKR and DAP.

Since this has been accomplished, he said, it would be counter-productive to keep pushing the matter...