Supporters of Malaysia opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim attend a rally on Friday in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: CFP

On Friday night, at a stadium in Kajang, 21 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, supporters of opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat began to gather. A band started playing, cheered on by a few vuvuzela-blowing supporters. At around 11 pm, the crowd swelled to 10,000, some waving flags and posters featuring opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The rally was held before a by-election in Kajang on Sunday, and two weeks after the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 on board.

Anwar, 66, who is de facto leader of the People's Justice Party (PKR), took the stage and ignited the crowd's spirits with a speech, in which he campaigned for the Kajang contest, and slammed the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition for linking him to the disappearance of Flight MH370.

The blame came amid almost a week of finger pointing between the government and opposition, who accused each other of exploiting the national crisis for political gain.

Analysts suggest it is only one of the fierce political disagreements between BN, whose rule in Malaysia used to be unshakeable, and the rising opposition.

Exploiting catastrophe

The row started after a report by the Daily Mail, which described the missing flight's pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah as a "fanatical" supporter of Anwar, who could have hijacked the plane in an anti-government protest.

Anwar immediately rubbished the report, accusing it of being "manipulated" by the government. Anwar and Sivarasa Rasiah, a senior leader of the PKR, both told the Global Times that Zaharie's political affiliation was leaked to the Daily Mail by the government.

The opposition leader has also been blaming the government for "poorly handling" search operations and being reluctant to brief opposition MPs on the situation.

The government and ruling coalition were swift to react by saying the search for MH370 is bigger than politics. Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said, "I do not think anybody should seek cheap publicity over what has happened," in a veiled accusation of the opposition.

An opinion piece in the pro-government New Straits Times indicated that Anwar is shamelessly exploiting the crisis to look victimized.

Asked whether the opposition is also politicizing the incident, Anwar and Sivarasa disagreed, saying they were only doing their job to supervise the government.

The finger pointing has been regarded by some analysts as both parties attempting to affect the result of the key by-election in Kajang.

"Malaysia has a very politicized environment. At any one time, both sides of the political divide are trying to undermine each other by any means," Ei Sun Oh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies under Nanyang Technological University, told the Global Times.

A local media commentator, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times that even if the authorities hadn't leaked Zaharie's political affiliation to foreign media as the opposition had suggested, Anwar wouldn't have let this opportunity of bashing the government slip away.

Peril from within

But given the particular incident, in which people are still in a state of shock, disbelief and grief, Oh warned that both sides have to be careful in deploying their usual political smear campaigns, or it can easily backfire.

Tangan Pemandu, a cab driver in Kuala Lumpur, told the Global Times that even though he is pro-opposition, he is sick of the opposition's over-criticism of the government's handling of the catastrophe.

A businessman in Malaysia, who didn't give his name, said he saw this as a lose-lose situation.

In fact, the opposition is only one headache for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also facing pressure within his own party UMNO, which forms the majority of BN.

Oh, who was a former political secretary of Najib, said the missing plane has been used as a tool in an internal power struggle, as some sections within UMNO are also trying to undermine Najib's administration.

In January, some pro-UMNO bloggers called for Najib to resign, while pressure against him is also mounting among the party's elders.

According to Oh, party leadership contests are only nominally based on democratic party elections, but "actually more results of internecine intrigues, of subtly sabotaging the leadership of the time by any means."

"In ruling UMNO, there are those reactionary right-wing supremacists closely linked to former leaders who are more than happy to see the comparatively less extremist Najib go away," he said.

Sick and tired

Criticism of Najib from within his own party came after a national election in 2013, in which the BN lost the popular vote to the opposition for the first time since 1969, but won a majority of seats in parliament through the first-past-the-post electoral system and gerrymandering.

According to Oh, the seats are gerrymandered in such a way that they tilt toward more rural seats, as rural voters are more dependent on government assistance.

The opposition, which was formed by PKR and two other parties, garnered 51 percent of the popular vote, and control of three out of 13 states.

"The majority wants democracy. Fifty-two percent [of people] support us, which is a good beginning," said Anwar, who was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of sodomy after a court overturned an acquittal in early March. The leader, who served six years in prison for corruption and sodomy before the sodomy charge was overturned in 2004, is currently on bail and vowed to fight the latest "unjust" ruling.

"We achieved the victory in the popular vote without any national television support. That shows the real threat of the opposition," said Sivarasa, adding people are prepared to give them a chance.

According to Oh, the growing support for the opposition results from a combination of both people's recognition of Pakatan and frustration toward BN, but more the latter due to its abuse and misuse of unchecked powers.

"Most people are sick and tired of BN and wanted a change of almost any color. The opposition benefited hugely from this sentiment for change, despite their often incoherent political manifestos," Oh noted.

The judgment was proved by Tangan, who supported the opposition in the last election. "I supported them only because I don't want BN to control the majority of seats, or they would abuse their power and there will be corruption," he said, adding he doesn't trust any politician.