Muhyiddin emerges as Malaysia PM frontrunner after UMNO, PAS throw support behind him
29 February, 2020
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) have pledged their support for Mr Muhyiddin Yassin to be Malaysia’s next prime minister.
This came on the heels of a statement from Mr Muhyiddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) that of its 36 MPs are backing him to dominate the top post, effectively putting him on equal footing with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) applicant Mr Anwar Ibrahim.
A day of twists and turns began on Friday (Feb 28) without clarity on who would win the race to be prime minister, after Dr Mahathir Mohamad said your day before there will be a special sitting in a few days for all MPs to determine who should claim the very best government post.
This is dismissed by parliament speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who said on Friday the prerogative to demand such a gathering lies with the speaker, on a royal decree by the king.
The king, meanwhile, met all rulers at Istana Negara to go over the country’s political turmoil, after two days of consultation with members of parliament to listen to their views.
In a statement later, the palace said the monarch does not have confidence that any parliamentarian commands a lot of the House of Representatives.
The palace would contact leaders of most political parties with representatives inside your home to present their preferred prospect for the prime minister post.
Shortly after that, Bersatu issued a statement naming Mr Muhyiddin as its choice for prime minister - the results of a gathering with Dr Mahathir at the Yayasan Al-Bukhary building earlier in the day.
It came as a surprise as the party has always pledged to stand behind Dr Mahathir, having persuaded him to change his mind on vacating the party chairman post on Monday.
The statement by Bersatu secretary-general Marzuki Yahya also hinted that a Mr Azmin Ali-led faction of 10 MPs from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has joined Bersatu.
He said the Friday meeting was attended by 36 Bersatu MPs, while Bersatu may hold 26 seats in the parliament.
A flurry of statements was issued subsequently, with UMNO, PAS, Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) pledging their support for Mr Muhyiddin.
UMNO has 39 seats while PAS has 18. MCA and MIC have two and one respectively.
In every, Mr Muhyiddin commands the support of 96 MPs in the 222-member parliament.
This put him slightly before Mr Anwar Ibrahim, who Pakatan Harapan (PH) insisted gets the majority support of the House to be another prime minister.
The three-party coalition has 92 seats.
In a twitter post on Friday night, Mr Anwar noted that the MPs who pledged support for him did so as individuals.
“I know for an undeniable fact that a number of the MPs on the ‘other side’ are unhappy that their party leaders have stolen their voice,” he said.
“Pakatan Harapan gets the numbers. Let’s see out this democratic process. InsyaAllah.”
The spotlight is currently on the political alliances in Borneo. With an increase of than 25 seats combined, Parti Warisan Sabah and Gabungan Parti Sarawak are now viewed as potential kingmakers.
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