New Malaysia PM sworn in amid crisis, Mahathir fights on
01 March, 2020
A former interior minister was sworn in as Malaysia's premier Sunday, marking the return of a scandal-mired regime to power after the last government's collapse but ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad slammed the move as illegal.
The Southeast Asian nation was plunged into turmoil yesterday as Mahathir's reformist "Pact of Hope" alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018, collapsed after a bid to force out leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir -- who was simply the world's oldest leader at 94 -- then quit, triggering a race for the premiership which he in the end lost to little-known Muhyiddin Yassin, who heads a coalition dominated by the country's ethnic Malay Muslim majority.
Your choice Saturday by the monarch to choose Muhyiddin was greeted with shock as Mahathir's allies claimed he previously enough support to come back as leader, and sparked widespread anger that the democratically elected government was being abruptly ejected.
The king appoints the country's prime minister, who must show he gets the support of all MPs.
Muhyiddin's coalition includes the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, as well as a hardline group that wants tougher Islamic laws.
UMNO is the corruption-riddled lynchpin of the coalition trashed at the 2018 elections amid allegations Najib and his cronies looted billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB. Najib is now on trial for corruption.
Despite a last-minute bid by Mahathir and his allies to prove that the veteran politician had enough support to return as premier, Muhyiddin's inauguration went ahead Sunday morning.
'No rule of law'
Wearing traditional Malay dress, the 72-year-old took the oath of office at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur during a more elaborate ceremony.
But in a press conference shortly beforehand, Mahathir insisted that Muhyiddin didn't have the support of the majority of the country's 222 MPs.
"This is an extremely strange thing... losers will form the federal government, the winners will maintain the opposition," he said.
"The rule of law no longer applies," he said, adding he'd demand an urgent parliament sitting in order that Muhyiddin can prove he has enough support.
The veteran ex-leader -- who served a first stint as premier from 1981 to 2003 -- however conceded that the king had refused to see him to listen to his case, and that the "Pact of Hope" alliance would now get into opposition.
Public anger was growing at the ejection of the reformist alliance, with the hashtag "NotMyPM" trending on Twitter and more than 100,000 persons signing a petition having said that the move was a "betrayal" of voters' choice at the 2018 poll.
The political crisis commenced when a band of ruling coalition lawmakers joined forces with opposition parties in a bid to create a fresh government without Anwar and stop him becoming premier.
Following the government fell, Mahathir was appointed interim premier and he and Anwar at first launched separate bids for power, reviving their decades-old rivalry.
But as Muhyiddin's bid quickly gained support and it became clear that he could easily get into power with UMNO, Mahathir and Anwar joined forces again in an effort to stop him -- nonetheless it proved inadequate, too late.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com