Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmed Shah
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AP)-Malaysia”On August 17, with the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak, the king quickly began the task of electing a new prime minister, so he summoned party leaders.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on August 16 less than 18 months after taking office, after public outrage over his government’s ineffectiveness in responding to the pandemic. Malaysia has one of the highest infection rates and per capita mortality rates in the world. Although it has been in a state of emergency for seven months and is under lockdown since June, the number of daily cases this month still exceeds 20,000.
The monarch ruled out the possibility of a general election because many areas of the country are COVID-19 red zones with insufficient sanitation facilities.
Muhyiddin was appointed as the caretaker prime minister until a successor was found.
At least six party leaders entered the palace. They include opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the heads of two other parties in the coalition, as well as the small opposition chairman of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The heads of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) and the Islamic political party that is part of the Muhyiddin Coalition were also summoned.
The king plays a ceremonial role to a large extent, but will appoint someone he believes has the majority support of parliament as prime minister.
Muhyiddin came to power in March 2020 after leading to the collapse of the reformist government that won the 2018 elections. With a weak majority in parliament and an unstable coalition, he became the leader of the country with the shortest time in power.
King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmed Shah also asked all lawmakers to separately submit the names of their preferred prime minister candidates.
This is a bit similar to how the king chose Muhyiddin last year. The monarch individually interviewed all 222 lawmakers, and then sought the nomination of party leaders in a difficult process. His choice of Muhyiddin was questioned by his expelled Mahathir Mohamad and the opposition.
This election will be another difficult task for the monarch, because no coalition has a majority of seats. Anwar’s three-party coalition is the largest opposition group. Anwar has been nominated, but there are fewer than 90 lawmakers, which is less than the 111 required by a simple majority. This is also less than 100 lawmakers believed to support Muhyiddin.
Anwar was boosted on August 17, when an eight-member political party in eastern Sabah stated that it would support him if he could get enough numbers.
Other competitors include the former Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri from Umno, which is Muhyiddin’s largest party allied with 38 lawmakers. But he may not get the support of the party because he earlier led a faction that supported Muhyiddin and the opposition party decided to withdraw its support.
According to local media, another possible candidate is Razaleigh Hamzah, an 84-year-old prince who served as Minister of Finance. Razaleigh is also a Umno parliamentarian and is seen as a neutral candidate who can unite the warring factions in the party.
At the same time, Mahathir, 96, called for the establishment of a national recovery committee led mainly by professionals to resolve the country’s economic and health crisis.
The Bersih Electoral Reform Group urges competitors to pursue political stability by providing multi-party governance and institutional reforms, rather than just trading in equestrian numbers and positions.
“The endless political conspiracy caused by the winner-takes-all politics in the de facto suspended parliament for the past year and a half must now be ended in order to govern health and the economy more effectively. The new prime minister must quickly convene a special meeting and propose a right His own confidence motion to prove his majority.”Spirit.
It warned that a short-sighted and selfish government will be punished by voters in the next election.
