Mahathir’s party won’t back him as Prime Minister; Malaysian king rejects plan for parliament vote to break political impasse
- Bersatu said it would support party president Muhyiddin Yassin’s candidacy to be Malaysia’s eighth Prime Minister
- A statement from the palace said the king would continue to speak to lawmakers about their preferred candidate for the premiership
The palace statement indicated that the political impasse in Malaysia was nowhere closer to being resolved, as Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had decided not to call for a special parliamentary session on Monday to choose a prime minister.
“The palace will continue to engage with leaders of political parties for their lawmakers to voice their preferred candidate for prime minister,” the statement said.
Bersatu, of which Mahathir is chairman, said it would support party president Muhyiddin Yassin’s candidacy to be Malaysia’s eighth Prime Minister.
Malaysia: snap election if parliament can’t decide Mahathir-Anwar stalemate
It said this decision was reached at a meeting involving 36 members of parliament. But the party only has 26 MPs including Mahathir so the additional 10 are believed to include members who defected this week from the People’s Justice Party (PKR) headed by Mahathir’s on-off rival Anwar Ibrahim.
His move shattered the fragile Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition with Anwar that secured a surprise election victory just 21 months ago over the corruption tainted Barisan Nasional government that had ruled since the country’s independence.
Mahathir was subsequently appointed as caretaker premier by the King, who proceeded to interview members of Malaysia’s 222-strong Parliament to assess who had the support of the majority.
The country’s sovereign typically plays a ceremonial role in Malaysia’s British-style system of government, but has been drawn in further this time to resolve a crisis now in its fifth day. Royals from some of the country’s 13 states gathered with the king on Friday for a special meeting on the political crisis.
On Thursday, Mahathir said a special session of Parliament would be called on Monday and if lawmakers were not able to decide then, snap polls would be called.
Mahathir plans to rule Malaysia without Umno. So does Anwar
His announcement angered politicians across the political spectrum, including remnants of the PH coalition now backing Anwar, 72, as prime minister.
Umno, the biggest opposition party and a member of the BN coalition, asked all lawmakers to say no to Mahathir’s special parliament sitting on March 2, Secretary-General Annuar Musa said on Twitter.
Earlier it told its leaders to prepare for a fresh election, suggesting their lawmakers may not rally behind any candidate who’s not one of their own.
Mahathir had earlier said he would be willing to take on the role of premier again if he had support, but underlined his wish for a non-partisan government that would allow him to choose members of his cabinet regardless of party affiliation. But he rejected any suggestions that he might work with his former party Umno.
Bersatu’s president, Muhyiddin Yassin, has no such reservations on working with Umno “en-bloc,” Mahathir told reporters on Thursday. Muhyiddin, once also from Umno, was Malaysia’s deputy prime minister until he was dumped in July 2015 for undermining Najib during the 1MDB scandal.
