Malaysia to get third Prime Minister in 3 years

Malaysia is set to get a third Prime Minister in the space of three years since the change of the government in 2018.

Today, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim revealed he has the support of a majority of the members of Parliament.

“With a solid and convincing majority, it means that as of this moment, the government of (Prime Minister) Muhyiddin Yassin has fallen,” he told a press conference at the Le Meridien Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The country will have to wait for the King or the Agong to know if Anwar Ibrahim can claim the post of Prime Minister.

During the half-hour long presser, Anwar says he will have an audience with the King soon.

A previous audience arranged yesterday morning had to be postponed because the Agong fell ill.

“The Agong should be the first person to be informed of the details but suffice to say, it’s not a small majority. It’s a convincing, formidable and strong government,” says Anwar.

Prime Minister since 2018, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned after his party pressured him to break away from the coalition in power.

Mahathir was leading the Pakatan Harapan coalition, a coalition formed by Anwar and allies with Mahathir.

However, Mahathir’s newly formed party the Bersatu and a minority party in the coalition decided to pull out of the PH.

This caused the fall of the PH regime after Mahathir’s resignation in February. But Mahathir was outsmarted by his members who supported his party deputy Muhyiddin Yassin to become the new PM.

LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT

Anwar says the majority he has is “close to” a two-thirds majority and that it includes MPs from Perikatan Nasional.

The PN is the coalition formed by Muhyiddin Yassin in the aftermath of the fall of the PH from power.

Anwar also says Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party Pejuang is not part of his coalition.

“He (Mahathir) may decide later, but as of now, no (he is not with us),” he says.

Anwar says the government of Muhyiddin Yassin has fallen to the cheers of the PKR supporters who were at the presser.

“This is not a backdoor government. This government has got a mandate and clear policies and those who decide to join have to accept the issue of integrity, good governance, anti-corruption, rule of law,” he says.

There were cries of ‘reformasi’ in the conference room while Anwar announced the formation of a new coalition.