Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim urges ‘patience’ from citizens as king deliberates on power transition plan

The opposition leader says the Malaysian king will consult other party leaders before coming to a decision

PM Muhyiddin refused to weigh in on the matter, saying his attention was on Covid-19, while former premier Mahathir said his party would not back Anwar

Reading Time:3 minutes

Published: 2:50pm, 13 Oct 2020Updated: 12:59am, 18 Dec 2020

Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday urged citizens to exercise “patience and wisdom” as the king deliberates on the next steps on the veteran politician’s much-debated plan to oust Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and form a new administration through defections of government MPs.

“We are not pressing him for any prompt decisions,” Anwar said after the 25-minute meeting, where he claimed to have submitted documents proving he had support for his leadership bid.

The country’s constitutional monarch, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, meanwhile appeared to contradict Anwar in a separate statement, saying that Anwar told the king he had the backing of a majority of lawmakers, but did not furnish a list of MP names to him during their meeting.

The Malaysian king’s assent is constitutionally required for any transition of power. Photo: Bloomberg

The statement, released by the Comptroller of the Royal Household, said the monarch told Anwar to abide by the constitution, and emphasised the need to prioritise dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia is currently experiencing a new surge in cases, with the capital area and surrounding Selangor state going into a two-week partial lockdown starting on Wednesday.