Malaysia’s parties asked to nominate prime ministerial candidates

Interim Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – King of Malaysia Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said on February 28 that he will let leaders of political parties to nominate prime ministerial candidates after no candidate could find majority support from the lower house to form a government.

The King also agreed with the house speaker’s decision to not hold a vote on March 2 as requested by interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir, 94, who is seeking to return as prime minister for a third time, also suffered another blow after his Bersatu party switched allegiance and said it has decided to nominate its president Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.

The crisis was sparked on February 23 when some leaders of the PH government tried to form a new alliance with opposition parties including Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) to ensure Mahathir would stay in power for the full term instead of handing the reins over to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Anwar as previously agreed. PKR was the dominant party in the ruling coalition. 

But Mahathir refused to bring the entire Umno party into his government, saying that it is a corrupt party, and resigned from the premiership on February 24. The King then appointed him interim leader while the search for a new prime minister goes on.

A failed bid by Mahathir’s supporters to form a new government without his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim, and Mahathir’s subsequent shock resignation broke apart the ruling alliance less than two years after it defeated a corruption-tainted coalition that had led the country for 61 years./.