It’s now confirmed: Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the former Deputy Prime Minister, will be Malaysia’s next Prime Minister, as announced by a statement from the palace.
He’ll be sworn in tomorrow (21 Aug) at 2:30pm.
If you’ve just woken up from a week-long sleep, here’s what you need to know.
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Confirmed: Ismail Sabri Yaakob is Malaysia’s Next Prime Minister
On Monday, former PM Muhyiddin Yassin, together with his entire cabinet, resigned as he said that he no longer had the support of the majority of the MPs to be the Prime Minister.
It’s not exactly surprising as there’s been a public spat earlier this month, when several MPs said that they no longer support him as the Prime Minister. As he only had a slight majority in parliament, all it takes is a few people to disavow their loyalty to him to dethrone him.
Since Monday, the King has been meeting MPs to decide who’ll be the next PM.
Now, it’s confirmed: Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Vice-President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), will be Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister.
According to the Comptroller of the Royal Family and Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, it’s said in a statement that 114 MPs have nominated Mr Ismail Sabri as their candidate for prime minister, and the majority is sufficient to form a new government.
It’s still a rather narrow win, considering that the total number of MPs stands at 222.
The statement read, “With that and in line with Article 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, His Majesty has consented to appoint Ismail Sabri Yaakob (Bera MP) as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia.”
Two days ago, the King also said that the new prime minister should table a confidence motion in the parliament as soon as possible: in other words, vote in parliament to “confirm” that the new PM do, indeed, have the support of the majority of the MPs.
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If this sounds confusing, watch this video to understand how a parliamentary government works:
Ismail Sabri Yaakob
The 61-year-old is a veteran politician: he became an MP in 2004, and after his re-election in 2008, he became the Minister for Youth and Sports.
Soon, he took on an array of ministerial posts, heading the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development and the Ministry of Defence. His last post was as a Deputy Prime Minister.
When his coalition lost the 2018 General Elections, he was also appointed as the Leader of the Opposition.
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Featured Image: msyaraafiq / Shutterstock.com
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