The 30-second version
- On 23-24 February 2020, Malaysia's first non-BN federal government collapsed overnight when parts of Bersatu (a PH coalition partner) withdrew and joined UMNO + PAS to form a new majority.
- PM Mahathir resigned on 24 February. On 1 March, Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as PM — chosen by the King after consultations, not through a fresh election. Malaysia had a new government without any voter having cast a ballot.
- It's called the Sheraton Move because the initial defection meetings happened at the Sheraton Petaling Jaya hotel on 23 February 2020. The name has become shorthand for elite coalition realignment without voter mandate.
- Direct consequences still active in 2026: the Anti-Hopping Law (2022) which restricts individual MP defections, deep public distrust of coalition politics, and the fragile Anwar-led "unity government" arrangement that resulted from GE-15.
The setup
How PH won in 2018 — and what made the coalition fragile
Who was in Pakatan Harapan in 2018?
Four parties: PKR (Anwar's party, largest), DAP (mostly Chinese urban), Amanah (moderate Muslim), and Bersatu — a new Malay nationalist party founded by Mahathir Mohamad in 2016 specifically to peel Malay voters away from UMNO.
What was the coalition's original deal on the PM job?
Mahathir (Bersatu, aged 93 in 2018) would serve as PM first. Anwar (PKR, still ineligible due to a jailing) would take over after ~2 years, once his sedition-related political disqualification lapsed. This deal held together tenuously through late 2019 but was never formally documented — a critical gap that later mattered.
Why was tension rising by early 2020?
Two issues. First: Mahathir gave increasingly unclear signals about when he'd hand power to Anwar. Second: parts of Bersatu were uncomfortable with cooperating with DAP (which UMNO had spent decades demonising as "anti-Malay") and wanted to realign with UMNO + PAS to secure Malay-Muslim conservative voters.
The event itself
The 8-day timeline that collapsed a government
February — March 2020
21 February 2020 (Friday)
The PH presidential council meeting
PH leaders meet routinely. On paper: consensus about the leadership succession. Behind the scenes: parts of Bersatu already coordinating with UMNO.
23 February 2020 (Sunday)
The Sheraton meeting
A meeting is held at the Sheraton Petaling Jaya hotel between Bersatu figures, UMNO leaders, PAS, and PKR defectors led by Azmin Ali. Consensus reached: form a new coalition WITHOUT DAP and WITHOUT Anwar.
24 February 2020 (Monday)
Mahathir resigns; declared interim PM
Mahathir submits resignation to the King, apparently attempting to force PH to unite behind him with maximum authority. The King accepts — then appoints him interim PM for a week while consultations proceed. A parliamentary majority nobody has.
24 February 2020
Bersatu withdraws from PH
Bersatu formally exits the PH coalition. Combined with 11 defecting PKR MPs ("Azmin's group"), the numbers shift: PH now has 92 MPs; the new BN + Bersatu + PAS bloc has 116.
27-28 February 2020
The King consults every MP individually
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah personally meets with all 222 federal MPs to determine who commands majority support — an unusual step but constitutionally within his powers.
29 February 2020 (Saturday)
The King picks Muhyiddin
After hearing every MP, the King determines Muhyiddin Yassin (Bersatu president) has the strongest claim to a working majority. Muhyiddin is named PM designate.
1 March 2020 (Sunday)
Muhyiddin sworn in as PM
Muhyiddin takes the oath of office. Malaysia now has its 8th Prime Minister — one nobody voted for in GE-14. He calls the new coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN).
9 March 2020
PN Cabinet announced
Muhyiddin unveils his Cabinet — heavily featuring UMNO, PAS, and Bersatu figures. The Anwar-led opposition begins organising for a no-confidence vote that would never actually be tabled before parliament went on lengthy recess for COVID-19.
The aftermath
Why Sheraton still shapes Malaysian politics in 2026
What was the Anti-Hopping Law?
Passed in 2022 after intense civil-society campaigning, it requires any elected MP who defects to a different party to vacate their seat and trigger a by-election. Aimed directly at preventing individual defections like the ones that enabled Sheraton. It doesn't stop entire parties from leaving coalitions.
Did Muhyiddin's government survive?
Barely. Perikatan Nasional held power through the COVID-19 pandemic, imposed multiple lockdowns, and lost internal cohesion by mid-2021. Muhyiddin resigned on 16 August 2021 after UMNO withdrew support. Ismail Sabri (UMNO) became PM through another coalition rearrangement — still no fresh election.
How does Sheraton connect to today's unity government?
Direct line. Ismail Sabri called GE-15 in November 2022. Result: no majority. The King brokered a unity government — BN (Sheraton's original beneficiaries) governing WITH PH (Sheraton's original victims), under PM Anwar Ibrahim. The uneasy Anwar-Zahid partnership that runs Malaysia today only makes sense against Sheraton's history.
What's the deeper legacy?
Public trust in "which coalition you voted for" was permanently damaged. Malaysians learned that a general election result can be overturned by hotel-room negotiations. That distrust has shaped every election since — including PRN Johor 2026, where BN's decision to run separately from federal partner PH is partly downstream of the reality that federal coalitions can collapse anytime.
Now you know the context — dig deeper