Malaysia’s king asked leaders from different parties to work together to address the economic and health woes facing the country, as he began a search on Tuesday to replace Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.
The constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, who met leaders of political parties on Tuesday, had previously ruled out elections because of the pandemic, saying he would appoint a prime minister he believed likely to command a majority.
In line with the king’s decree, the speaker of Malaysia’s parliament asked lawmakers on Tuesday to each submit a letter to the palace stating their choice of the next prime minister.
The king, meanwhile, told political leaders that the new prime minister must have a majority in the parliament, but also that “the shape of politics must change,” opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said after meeting the monarch.
Malaysia has been in a state of political flux since widespread graft accusations led to the 2018 election defeat of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which had governed for more than 60 years since independence.
Mahathir Mohamad led the opposition to election victory for the first time, but the alliance collapsed from infighting. Muhyiddin then put together a coalition with political parties that were defeated in the polls, including UMNO.
But that alliance was also fragile, and a constant tussle with UMNO, which balked at playing second fiddle, prompted Muhyiddin’s resignation after just 17 months in office.
At present, no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament. The opposition bloc and UMNO, Malaysia’s biggest party, are split on support for their prime ministerial candidates.
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