Why the monarchy is the big winner from Malaysia’s political crisis
- Newly installed Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has sought cooperation with rivals still smarting from defeat, at the request of Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah
- The king’s intervention has been widely praised but analysts have noted that his role demonstrates the expanding political influence of Malaysia’s monarchs

A semblance of political normalcy returned to Malaysia this week after a period of relentless elite feuding appeared to subside, having ushered in the country’s third prime minister in the space of 18 months.
The peace pledge was met with cynicism on social media, but the 61-year-old leader, who is a generation younger than most of the country’s feuding political heavyweights, by midweek sought to prove he meant business.
Ismail Sabri on Wednesday invited the three most senior leaders of the opposition Pakatan Harapan bloc – the arch-rival of his United Malays National Organisation (Umno) – for talks.
Both sides later offered the same reason for declaring a temporary entente: such a pact was the explicit wish of Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.