Veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin has framed today's potentially explosive Dewan Rakyat vote on the budget as a battle between Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, for the support of embattled Umno leaders Najib Abdul Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

In a blog post, Kadir followed up yesterday's joint press conference by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his long-time rival Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, by zeroing in on the remaining key players in a "game of brinkmanship in Parliament - if indeed such a do-or-die battle were to take place."