KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah on Friday named the country’s new prime minister and brought back to power the longest-ruling political party, which lost the premiership in 2018 amid a multibillion-dollar graft scandal.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed the new prime minister, replacing Muhyiddin Yassin, who lost his parliamentary majority and stepped down on Aug. 16 after 17 months in office marred by power struggles within his ruling alliance, a reeling economy and a worsening COVID-19 situation.
Istana Negara, the royal palace, said in a statement that the king had consented to appoint Yaakob following the backing of a majority of lawmakers in accordance with the constitution. The decision was made after a special conference with other Malay state rulers secured a consensus.
“The king expresses hope that with the appointment of the new PM, the political tussle can immediately end and all MPs can put aside their political differences to focus on collective efforts to combat the pandemic,” Ahmad Fadil, the comptroller of the royal household said.
Yaakob, who will be sworn in on Saturday afternoon, was Muhyiddin’s deputy from the rival United Malays National Organization, which ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1957 and lost the 2018 election following a graft scandal at government-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
In the wake of the scandal, authorities alleged that $4.5 billion was diverted into private pockets. Several UMNO lawmakers were charged with corruption after the 2018 election defeat, including former Premier Najib Razak, who last year was sentenced to 12 years in jail. Malaysia has been in a state of political turmoil since 2018.
That year, Mahathir Mohamad, the former UMNO leader who dominated Malaysian politics as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, led the opposition to election victory, but his alliance soon collapsed. After his resignation, Muhyiddin — serving as home affairs minister in Mahathir’s Cabinet — was appointed by the king as prime minister and entered a coalition with UMNO. But the alliance fell apart amid public anger over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite a series of lockdowns, Malaysia, a country of 33 million people, has one of the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the world.
Daily new infections have more than doubled since June and hit a record 23,564 on Friday, with COVID-19-related deaths surging above 13,700.
