Malaysia swears in new prime minister as Mahathir forced out
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Joseph Sipalan
4-5 minutes
Malaysia’s Muhyiddin Yassin, a Malay nationalist
politician backed by the corruption-tarnished former ruling party, was
sworn in as prime minister on Sunday after the king picked him to
replace 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.
Malaysia's
Prime Minister Designate and former interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin
waves to reporters before his inauguration as the 8th prime minister,
outside his residence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 1, 2020.
REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
The
swearing-in capped a week of turmoil that began with Mahathir’s
resignation in an apparent bid to consolidate power, but ended with him
sidelined and complaining of betrayal after decades dominating Malaysian
politics.
Mahathir promised to seek a vote in parliament to challenge Muhyiddin’s support, but conceded he might not win.
Muhyiddin,
72, was sworn in at a palace ceremony in front of Malaysia’s king,
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and promised to fulfil his duties as
prime minister.
The change in leadership comes less than
two years after Mahathir joined old rival Anwar Ibrahim, 72, to defeat
the ruling party of six decades, the United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO), on an anti-corruption platform.
“This is a very strange
thing,” said Mahathir. “This is the losers that will form the
government,” he added, referring to the outcome of the 2018 election.
He
said he had the support of 114 of parliament’s 222 members, but it was
not guaranteed that they would all support him at a vote in a country of
tangled political interests where horse-trading is commonplace.
Mathathir
questioned whether a government involving the former ruling party would
be as ready to pursue graft cases against its politicians. Those
include former prime minister Najib Razak, who is now on trial for
corruption.
A week of twists and turns in Malaysian politics
began with Mahathir’s resignation, breaking his alliance with Anwar as
he proposed a national unity government without party loyalties that
would have given him greater authority.
But Anwar then launched his own bid to become prime minister while Muhyiddin built his alliance.
KING’S CHOICE
It
was down to the king to decide who would have the best chance to form a
government. Although Mahathir and Anwar said they had reunited on
Saturday and now had majority support, the king announced Muhyiddin as
the candidate.
About 200 protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur late
on Saturday to protest against the king’s decision. Police said they
were investigating a Twitter post that encouraged people to join the
protest, which they said was illegal.
Muhyiddin is from
Mahathir’s Bersatu party, but had shown himself ready to work with UMNO -
from which he had been sacked in 2016 after questioning former prime
minister Najib’s handling of the 1MDB corruption scandal.
UMNO’s
fortunes have risen since its 2018 defeat, with the Pakatan coalition of
Mahathir and Anwar losing five by-elections in the face of criticism
from some Malay voters that it could do more to favor the biggest ethnic
group in a nation of 32 million.
UMNO, which Mahathir led from 1981 to 2003 during a previous stint as prime minister, supports Malay nationalism.
Slideshow (2 Images)
“I
think Muhyiddin would lead a more overtly pro-ethnic Malay government
characterized by social division, economic nationalism, and possibly
less fiscal restraint,” said Peter Mumford of the Eurasia consultancy.
As
well as personal relationships, politics in Malaysia is shaped by
ethnic, religious and regional interests. Malaysia is more than half
ethnic Malay, but has large ethnic Chinese, Indian and other minorities.
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