Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said the demand was not strong enough to trigger a leadership change as it came from a state with its own unique political dynamics.

“It lacks bite because it came from the Sabah Bersatu secretary. Muhyiddin cannot be held 100% responsible for PN’s defeat in that election.

“In my view, the pressure does exist, but for it to be effective, it must come from outside of Sabah, ideally from Peninsular Malaysia,” he told FMT.

Sabah Bersatu secretary Yunus Nurdin had urged Muhyiddin to step down after the party’s failure to win any of the 33 seats it contested. PN won just one seat in the state – Karambunai – through PAS candidate Aliakbar Gulasan.

Yunus accused the Bersatu leadership of failing to manage the internal strife leading up to the state election, which he said had affected the confidence of voters in the party.

Muhyiddin has already been battling discontent within Bersatu as well as calls for him to step down ahead of the 16th general election to make way for his deputy, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin.

Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri of Global Asia Consulting said Yunus’s call should not be taken lightly.

He said the major setback in Sabah was not just a tactical issue, but could also reflect deeper, more complex internal power dynamics in the party.

“The total failure in Sabah raises questions: is this weakness purely due to technical errors, or is there an internal effort to undermine the leadership and build momentum to oust the president?

“If true, it would be a cunning power move, using failure as a stepping stone to rise to the top leadership,” he said.

He added that if the pressure for Muhyiddin to step down continued to grow, the most prominent figure likely to take over would be Hamzah.