Malaysia’s King Requests Party Leaders to Name PM By Monday

Anisah Shukry and Kok Leong Chan
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian party leaders have until 2 p.m. Monday to inform the nation’s monarch their choice of prime minister and the alliances they have formed, after Saturday’s vote produced the country’s first-ever hung parliament.

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The king’s decision on the new government and appointment of the premier will be final, in line with the constitution, the national palace said in a statement Sunday. The ruler has the discretion to name the premier whom he believes commands the majority support of lawmakers.

Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition got the most parliamentary seats -- 82 of 220 -- in the election, with former premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional not far behind at 73. Former leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Barisan Nasional had 30, as a gamble to hold early elections failed.

A coalition needs 111 seats to form a majority, while by-elections will be held for two constituencies later. In early morning press conferences, Anwar said he has enough support from other allies to cross the threshold, while Muhyiddin said he will be speaking to parties in Borneo to get there.

READ: Malaysia Latest: Muhyiddin Meets Parties on Forming Government

Malaysia’s rotating monarchy has played an outsized role in determining the prime minister since Mahathir Mohamad’s abrupt resignation in 2020. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah named the two successive premiers based on sworn declarations from MPs -- yet both lasted a little over a year due to infighting from within the fragile groupings that backed them.

“His Majesty advises the people and party leaders to obey and respect the democratic process and to accept the results of the 15th general election calmly,” Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, comptroller of the royal household, said in the statement.

Saturday’s vote may extend a political crisis that has seen the government change three times in four years and hampered efforts to bring down the cost of living and rein in a growing deficit in the aftermath of spending to shield the economy from the pandemic.

This election wasn’t due until September 2023, but the United Malays National Organisation, the linchpin of BN, wanted it earlier to capitalize on a slew of local poll victories as well as what they saw as an opposition in disarray.

(Updates with palace comptroller’s comment in sixth paragraph.)

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