Guwahati News Desk: The Malaysian king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah on Friday, named the former Deputy Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the country’s new leader.
The announcement was made at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Yaakob appeared to have won majority support to be the new leader of Malaysia on Friday.
The king announced that Yaakob secured the backing of 114 lawmakers for a slender majority, and that Yaakob, will be sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth Prime Minister on Saturday.
Earlier, Yaakob was the Deputy Prime Minister under the government of Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned Monday after less than 18 months in office, as infighting in his coalition cost him majority support. Thus, with Yaakob being picked as the new leader, it essentially restores Muhyiddin Yassin’s alliance and also brings back the rule of the United Malays National Organization, which had led Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957 but was ousted in 2018 elections over a multibillion-dollar financial scandal.
Meanwhile, the king expressed in a statement that he hoped Yaakob’s appointment will bring an end to the country’s political turmoil. For which, he went ahead and urged the lawmakers to set aside their political differences and unite to tackle the countryâs worsening pandemic.
Meanwhile, angry Malaysians had launched an online petition to protest Yaakob’s candidacy, with more than 340,000 signatures collected so far. This was done because many believe that the new leader’s choice will restore the status quo, with its perceived failed response to a worsening pandemic.
