MALAYSIA IN TRANSITION: Malaysia’s Mahathir resigns amid political turmoil
King appoints nonagenarian as caretaker PM, as rivals scramble for power
.
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stepped down on Monday following an internal coup to form a new ruling coalition.
The prime minister’s office said in a statement that the 94-year-old leader tendered his resignation to the country’s monarch at 1 p.m. local time.
Mahathir’s near two-year-old ruling coalition has been embroiled in a succession battle over the past few weeks, bickering over when he would hand over power to his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim. Several members of the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan, or Alliance of Hope, met on Sunday along with opposition parties to form a group that will deny Anwar the opportunity.
.
ADS by:
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –
.
Mahathir met with King Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin on Monday evening. Government Chief Secretary Zuki Ali released a statement after the meeting to say that the king had accepted Mahathir’s resignation. The statement said, however, that Sultan Abdullah also appointed Mahathir caretaker prime minister until a new government has been formed.
The Mahathir-led Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu) had left the ruling coalition, the party said in a statement.
Azmin Ali, once seen as Mahathir’s favored successor, told reporters that he and 10 other members of parliament have quit the Anwar-led People’s Justice Party (PKR) and, effectively, Pakatan Harapan, to form a “special bloc” in parliament. This suggests a new ruling coalition might be voted in through the lower house.
After Mahathir submitted his resignation, Anwar told reporters: “I was there with Mahathir when he decided to resign. He couldn’t digest the fact that he is associated with working with the corrupts.”
Asked on whether he will be the next prime minister, Anwar said, “We shall see.” He added that he believes Mahathir had no role in the toppling of Pakatan Harapan government.
Sources said Mahathir stepped down because he did not agree to the plan of Bersatu exiting the ruling coalition. He also resigned as Bersatu’s chairman, effective immediately.
ADS by:
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –
.
“I was with Mahathir earlier and Mahathir quit because he did not want to work with UMNO, which has corrupt individuals,” Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
The United Malays National Organisation is the main party in the coalition Barisan Nasional, or National Front, that ruled Malaysia from independence until Mahathir’s shock election win in May 2018.
“We respect Mahathir’s principle,” said Lim, a member of the Democratic Action Party, another party in the ruling coalition. “That principle should be supported by all. So we propose to the Pakatan Harapan presidential council for Mahathir to remain as prime minister.”
The new government could be led again by Mahathir. He needs a simple majority of 112 lawmakers, out of a total of 222 elected representatives, to remain in power. Unofficial counts suggest the prime minister has the support of over 130 parliamentarians.
However, Saravanan Murugan, deputy president of Malaysian Indian Congress, part of National Front, told reporters that the opposition has enough support to form a government.
“We have enough numbers and would be seeking an audience with the king to submit,” he said.
One source said there were two possible outcomes. One is forming a new government in a special sitting of the 222 members of parliament. Another will be to call for a snap election. Both methods are unprecedented in Malaysia./CK TAN and P PREM KUMAR, Nikkei staff writers
ADS by:
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –
.
.
RELATED STORY:
.
PETALING JAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) has rejected Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as the party chairman.
PPBM supreme council member Datuk Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen said several party leaders would meet Mahathir at his residence in Seri Kembangan today (Feb 25) to relay the decision to him.
.
ADS by:
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –
.
“We reject Mahathir’s resignation as PPBM chairman and we want him to continue leading the party and the country forward.
“We also give our undivided support to Mahathir to continue leading the nation as the prime minister, and not just as an interim premier,” he told reporters when met outside the party’s headquarters, here, late yesterday night (Feb 24).
“Tomorrow morning we will have a personal meeting at his residence to inform him of this,” he added.
Asked if he had any knowledge why Mahathir submitted his resignation as the party chairman, Rafiq merely said the decision was very personal and that it was not for him to disclose.
.
ADS by:
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –
.
Earlier yesterday, Mahathir announced that he was resigning both as the premier and the party chairperson amidst ongoing political turmoil.
The elder statesman was later appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the interim prime minister as the country searches for its new head of the administration. / AMAR SHAH MOHSEN /
.
Malaysia upheaval: Mahathir interim PM, preempts Anwar
Malaysia’s King accepted his resignation but appointed Mahathir as interim prime minister.The shock move followed weekend political drama that saw an attempt by Anwar’s rivals within his own “Pact of Hope” coalition—which stormed to a historic election victory in 2018—and opposition politicians to form a new government.That coalition would reportedly have excluded Anwar, Mahathir’s presumptive successor and a former opposition icon who was jailed for years on questionable sodomy charges, blocking his ascent to the premiership.Anwar and Mahathir—the world’s oldest leader, aged 94—have a notoriously stormy relationship but joined forces to oust a corruption-plagued government at the 2018 polls.Mahathir, who previously served as premier from 1981 to 2003, had made a pre-election pledge to hand power to Anwar but has repeatedly refused to fix a date.The weekend push to form a new government appeared to have fizzled out by early Monday, but then Mahathir’s office made the surprise announcement that he had “sent a resignation letter as prime minister of Malaysia” to the king at 1:00 p.m. (0500 GMT).Shortly before, Mahathir’s Bersatu party announced it was leaving the ruling coalition and 11 lawmakers resigned from Anwar’s party, leaving the Pact of Hope in tatters and fueling speculation efforts could be under way to form a new alliance.Anwar was due to see the king Monday, with speculation mounting that he would try to convince him that he had the backing of enough MPs to form a government. While his role is largely ceremonial, the monarch approves the appointment of the prime minister, who must have the backing of most MPs in parliament.“If he has the majority then Anwar is the next prime minister,” Azmi Hassan, political analyst with University Technology Malaysia, told AFP.But he added that “with Bersatu out of [the ruling coalition]… most probably Anwar won’t have the numbers”.New alliance?
Mahathir’s party may now join hands with the United Malays National Organisation—the lynchpin of the forming ruling coalition, and party of scandal-tainted former leader Najib Razak—and other groups to try to form a government, he said.Anwar had teamed up with former nemesis Mahathir ahead of the 2018 elections to oust the government of Najib, who had become embroiled in the massive 1MDB graft scandal, and they led their alliance to victory against a coalition that had ruled Malaysia for six decades.The pair’s difficult relationship has dominated Malaysia’s political landscape for over two decades.As finance minister and a powerful UMNO figure in the 1990s, Anwar had been tipped as Mahathir’s successor for the premiership, but his boss sacked him after they fell out over how to respond to a financial crisis.Anwar was arrested and thrown in jail after being convicted of sodomy and corruption in a case critics said was trumped up, but he emerged from prison to unify a ragtag political opposition into a potent force against the long-ruling government.Tensions had risen in the Pact of Hope coalition after Mahathir refused to fix a date to hand power to Anwar.The government’s popularity had also been falling and they lost a string of local polls, as they faced accusations of failing to protect the country’s ethnic Malay Muslim majority and not moving fast enough on reforms.Their opponents also argued the party was becoming dominated by ethnic Chinese politicians. Race is a highly sensitive issue in Malaysia, which is about 60 percent Muslim but also home to substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.Many were angry, however, that the democratically elected government, which came to power partly on a pledge to push through much-needed reforms, could be replaced without an election.The people “will not agree to or cooperate with any ‘backdoor’ government formed out of the selfish, self-preservation agenda of certain Mps,” said a statement from a group of leading activists and academics.
