Malaysia’s Mahathir loses bid to return as prime minister

KUALA LUMPUR-The Associated Press

Malaysia's interim leader Mahathir Mohamad leaves after delivering a speech at the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 28, 2020. (AP Photo)

Malaysia’s king on Feb. 29 appointed seasoned politician Muhyiddin Yassin as the country’s new leader, trumping Mahathir Mohamad’s bid to return to power after a week of political turmoil that followed his resignation as prime minister.

The appointment of Muhyiddin, who heads Mahathir’s Bersatu party, will ironically bring back to power the United Malays National Organization, which was ousted by Mahathir’s ruling alliance in a historic vote in May 2018. It also has stoked fears of rising Islamization with the inclusion of a fundamentalist Islamic party.

Bersatu pulled out of the alliance this week, leading to the government’s collapse. Mahathir quit to object to Bersatu’s plan to work with UMNO. Several UMNO leaders, including disgraced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak, are on trial on corruption charges.

Mahathir, 94, had struck a deal early on Feb. 29 to work with his former ruling alliance led by rival Anwar Ibrahim to thwart Muhyiddin’s plan and appeared to be on the verge of a victory as more lawmakers rejoined his camp.

But the palace announced later in the day that King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah believed that Muhyiddin had the support of a majority of lawmakers. Muhyiddin will be sworn in on Sunday.

The king decreed that “it was the best decision for all” and called for an end to the political turmoil, the palace statement said.

Muhyiddin, 72, is a longtime politician who was sacked by Najib as deputy prime minister in 2015 after he criticized Najib’s handling of a massive corruption scandal at the 1MDB state investment fund.

He helped Mahathir in 2016 form Bersatu, which later teamed up with Anwar’s Alliance of Hope with a pact that Mahathir would eventually hand over power to Anwar.

“I am very surprised that Muhyiddin got the job ... it is very bad news for the country,” said James Chin, head of the Asia Institute at Australia’s University of Tasmania. “One of the parties in this government is the fundamentalist Islamic party that wants to establish an Islamic state.”

The stunning turn of events capped a week of tumult and marked the end of the Alliance of Hope, less than two years after it ousted the UMNO-led coalition that had governed Malaysia since independence in 1957 but had become entangled in a widespread corruption scandal.

The alliance initially nominated Anwar as the next prime minister but reversed on Feb. 29 to support Mahathir’s candidacy in order to block a bid by Muhyiddin’s camp to form a “backdoor” government involving “kleptocrats and traitors.”

That plan has now been formalized with the king’s decree, after he met leaders of all political parties earlier on Feb. 29.

Following Mahathir’s resignation this week, the king dissolved the Cabinet and reappointed Mahathir as interim leader. The monarch then individually interviewed all 222 lawmakers but failed to establish a candidate with majority support.

Rather than holding a parliamentary vote to select a prime minister, the king normally appoints a nominated candidate if he is satisfied the candidate has the majority of support.