In Umno, patronage and politics are often intertwined. Umno warlords, through their vast resources maintain their support by dishing out patronage.
But when an Umno warlord falls and his ability to dish out patronage diminishes, his support too evaporates.
One such former Umno warlord is Muhyiddin Yassin, who in the early months of his sacking as deputy prime minister in 2015, and later Umno deputy president in 2016, saw his Umno division deputy Ismail Mohamed openly supporting him.
