Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad yesterday lost a power struggle, with a little-known ex-interior minister to be the country’s new leader in a shock twist that would return a scandal-plagued party to power.
Muhyiddin Yassin’s surprise victory not only sidelines Mahathir, who had been the world’s oldest prime minister at 94, but also dashes the hopes of Anwar Ibrahim of becoming leader any time soon.
A royal statement said Muhyiddin was chosen by the king, who appoints the country’s prime ministers after deciding who commands most support from lawmakers, following the collapse of a reformist ruling coalition last week.
Photo: AP
Mahathir and Anwar’s “Pact of Hope” alliance in 2018 stormed to a historic victory that broke the six-decade stranglehold on power of a corruption-riddled coalition, but it was riven by infighting over who should succeed Mahathir.
Tensions exploded last week after a failed bid to push out Anwar and stop him becoming leader — prompting the government’s collapse and Mahathir’s shock resignation.
The victory of Muhyiddin and his coalition, which is dominated by the multiethnic country’s Muslim majority, dashed hopes that the reformist alliance had secured enough support to return to power and is likely to spark much public anger.
Not only does it remove a democratically elected government, but it also signals the return to power of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the scandal-plagued party of disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
UMNO was the linchpin of a long-ruling coalition toppled from power at historic elections two years ago amid allegations Najib and his cronies looted state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Najib is on trial for corruption.
His coalition also includes the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a hardline outfit pushing for tougher Islamic laws in Malaysia.
Addressing supporters outside his Kuala Lumpur house, Muhyiddin said: “I urge all Malaysians to take the decision that has been made by the palace today well. Pray that we will succeed for a greater Malaysia in the future.”
The palace earlier said that appointing a prime minister could not be delayed, as the country “needs a government for the well-being of the people,” and that Muhyiddin would be sworn in today.
However, James Chin, a Malaysia expert from the University of Tasmania, said that he was “very surprised” that Muhyiddin got the job.
The political crisis began when a group of ruling coalition lawmakers joined forces with opposition parties in a bid to form a new government without Anwar and stop him becoming prime minister.
After the government fell, Mahathir was appointed prime minister and he and Anwar initially launched rival bids for power.
However, as Muhyiddin’s bid quickly gained support and it became clear that he could get into power with UMNO, Mahathir and Anwar did a volte-face and joined forces again yesterday.
The remaining parties from the “Pact of Hope” alliance threw their support behind Mahathir to become prime minister, and there had been hopes he could stop Muhyiddin — but it was too little, too late.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS