Muhyiddin Yassin named as Malaysian prime minister

Malaysia’s 94-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has lost a power struggle with an ex-interior minister in a shock twist that will return a scandal-plagued party to power.

Muhyiddin Yassin will be sworn as PM in on Sunday, royal officials said, after a week of turmoil that followed the collapse of a reformist government and Mahathir’s resignation as premier.

“The process to appoint the prime minister cannot be delayed because the country needs a government for the wellbeing of the people and the nation,” a palace statement said. The king appoints the premier, and rival candidates had this week been seeking to show they commanded majority support from MPs

As well as ending the premiership of Mahathir, who was the world’s oldest leader, the developments mean there will be little hope of his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim, becoming prime minister.

Muhyiddin’s coalition is dominated by the multi-ethnic country’s Muslim majority and includes the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the scandal-plagued party of the disgraced former leader Najib Razak.

Umno was the lynchpin of a long-ruling coalition that was toppled from power in elections in 2018 amid allegations that Najib and his cronies had looted the state fund 1MDB.

Muhyiddin, a former Mahathir ally, joined forces with Umno in an attempt to win power. His coalition also includes a hardline Muslim party that is pushing for Islamic laws.

The crisis began when Mahathir and Anwar’s ruling Pact of Hope alliance, which stormed to victory two years ago against Najib’s government, collapsed a week ago.

A group of ruling coalition lawmakers had joined forces with opposition parties in an attempt to form a new government without Anwar and stop him becoming premier.

After that effort failed, Mahathir and Anwar launched rival bids to win power, reviving a rivalry that has shaped politics in the country for more than two decades.

But as Muhyiddin’s bid quickly gained support and it became clear he could get into power with Umno, Mahathir and Anwar did a volte-face and joined forces again on Saturday.

The remaining parties from the Pact of Hope alliance threw their support behind Mahathir to become premier, and there had been hopes he could stop Muhyiddin.

The Pact of Hope, a band of opposition groups that included a party dominated by the country’s ethnic Chinese minority, Anwar’s People’s Justice party and Mahathir’s Malay-dominated outfit, was uneasy from the start.

Mahathir had pledged to eventually hand the premiership to Anwar, but many were sceptical he wanted to give power to his old rival, and rival factions were seeking to push Anwar out.

Muhyiddin, 72, was a member of Umno for many decades and held a string of senior posts. He was deputy prime minister in Najib’s government, but Najib sacked him after he voiced criticism of the 1MDB scandal.