Opinion | Can Malaysia’s new prime minister end political instability?

Ismail Sabri Yaakob looks set to succeed Muhyiddin Yassin, but he has a slim majority and was part of the government criticised over its pandemic response

The Covid-19 vaccination rate may help him, but he faces the challenges of intra-Malay competition and broadening the political base of policymaking

Reading Time:5 minutes

Ismail Sabri Yaakob is leading the race to become Malaysia's next prime minister, securing the support of a slim majority of MPs. Photo: AP

Published: 7:30pm, 19 Aug 2021Updated: 7:57pm, 20 Aug 2021

With near lightning speed, Malaysia’s game of thrones is settled for now, just days after the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. His deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob has won the support of 114 of the coalition government’s 115 MPs, constituting a 51.8 per cent bare majority in the 220-member parliament, and he is expected to be sworn in this weekend.

However, can Malaysia’s third prime minister since May 2018 end political instability and turn around the government’s failed struggle on the pandemic and economic fronts? As parliamentarians informed the National Palace of their premier candidate on Wednesday, the country reported a record number of new Covid-19 cases, despite a full lockdown being in place since June. On Thursday, a fresh high of 22,948 cases was reported.

For months, Muhyiddin has been the face of Malaysia’s failure to control the pandemic, and many netizens and young protesters believe that his resignation is a necessary condition for such a turnaround. However, Ismail Sabri, formerly the senior minister coordinating the lockdown measures that were slammed for being ill-planned and flip-flopping, was also part of the failure, instead of a hope.

Malaysians opposing Muhyiddin were hoping for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Umno’s octogenarian MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, or other figures, and the ascendance of Ismail has been met with pessimism and rejection. Over 240,000 people have signed a change.org petition against his appointment.

Even an Umno MP Azalina Saad publicly predicted that the government may only last for six months, much shorter than Muhyiddin’s 17 months in office and his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad’s 22 months.

Malaysia’s powerful king and deputy king – rotating five-year terms by nine sultans – have called for an end to the “winner-takes-all” politics which has continued for seven decades since the nation’s independence from Britain.