Malaysia election 2022: Hope for Anwar as king remains firm on unity plan rejected by Muhyiddin

Hope lingers for Anwar to emerge as PM after Muhyiddin rejected the king’s proposal for a ‘unity government’

A Thursday meeting among the nation’s sultans hints that King Sultan Abdullah is ready to seek their consensus to endorse a prime ministerial nominee

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Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim attends a news conference outside the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters.

Published: 5:47pm, 23 Nov 2022Updated: 11:26pm, 23 Nov 2022

Weariness began to set in among Malaysians on Wednesday as the country’s post-election political impasse lingered, though there were positive signs for those backing reformist opposition Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister.

King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah’s convening of a special meeting with the nation’s other hereditary sultans suggested a resolution was in sight and he was ready to seek their consensus to endorse a prime ministerial nominee.

Following meetings with Anwar and rival Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, the king held talks the next morning with the leader of the Barisan Nasional bloc that could prove vital in ending the deadlock.

Both Anwar’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan alliance and Muhyiddin’s conservative Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional bloc require the backing of some or all 30 Barisan Nasional MPs to gain a parliamentary majority and form the next government.

Barisan Nasional’s chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said after the meeting that Sultan Abdullah had “decreed” a unity government be formed.