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Malaysia’s political crisis: 4 heavyweights vie to become PM as king asks MPs to declare their choice
- Opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim, elder statesman Tengku Razeleigh Hamzah, outgoing DPM Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Sabah’s ex-chief minister Shafie Apdal are in the running
- The winner has to attain the ‘magic number’ of 111 backers in a secret ballot in which MPs will fax, email or WhatsApp the king their preferred candidate
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Malaysia’s prime ministerial aspirants on Tuesday night are expected to stitch up eleventh-hour deals to put them in pole position to succeed Muhyiddin Yassin ahead of a deadline for lawmakers to make their choice known in a secret ballot organised by the king.
Local media said opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim, elder statesman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the outgoing deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal were in the running for the country’s top job.
In a circular, the Speaker of Malaysia’s lower house of parliament, Azhar Harun, instructed the country’s 220 lawmakers to submit a single nominee to the National Palace by 4pm on Wednesday.
Muhyiddin’s resignation on Monday, following weeks of political turmoil due to his loss of majority legislative support, shifted the spotlight to Malaysia’s constitutional monarch, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
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Like the British sovereign, the reigning Malaysian sultan wields prerogative powers to decide who will succeed a prime minister who vacates office midterm, on the basis that the successor has the confidence of the legislature.
During a similar crisis last year, Sultan Abdullah interviewed each MP personally to ascertain their choice. He subsequently determined it was Muhyiddin who commanded parliament’s confidence.
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