MALAYSIA’S politics takes a quick turn following the appointment of nationalist leader Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister by King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah on Saturday. He will be sworn in on Sunday (today). No doubt the decision is highly dramatic. It has raised doubts as to whether Mr Mahathir was trying to keep his position as prime minister. Another significant matter is that, the new prime minister is an influential leader of Mahathir’s Bersatu party. Malaysia’s political impasse began last Sunday when a majority of lawmakers attempted to push down Mr Mahathir through a political coup. Ultimately it resulted in Mahathir’s resignation.
Even after such opposition, it seems Mr Mahathir, the 94-year-old world’s most eldest statesman, could keep his job if he had shown a slight interest. But he didn’t follow that path of conflict while a five-day leaderless turmoil had already pushed the country to greater economic crisis along with frantic horse-trading. According to Malaysian media, the King took interviews of all MPs last week and found that 72-year-old Muhyiddin had the confidence of a majority of lawmakers. So, he was given the chance to form the next government. People’s Justice Party president Anwar Ibrahim was originally slated to take over the Prime Minister’s post at some point before 2023. But high drama began when Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan alliance backed Mahathir to stay once more as premier.
There is another issue — it is still widely believed that Mahathir has a majority in the 222-seat lower lawmaking house as well. If the new Prime Minister is unable to command the confidence of House — that will resume on March 9 — it could lead to a fresh political crisis if any lawmaker tables a no-confidence motion.
