Over 250,000 People Want Anwar To Be Malaysia’s Next Prime Minister
Malaysians have taken to petitions calling for Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader Anwar Ibrahim to be the country’s next Prime Minister (PM).
Malaysia’s recent general election on Saturday (19 Nov) resulted in a hung Parliament as no coalition managed to secure the 112 seats needed to form the government.
While the King will accept submissions from parties on the next government today at 2pm, both Mr Anwar and Perikatan Nasional (PN)’s Muhyiddin Yassin have been talking to other parties to secure the seats.
Petition for Anwar as Prime Minister gets over 250,000 signatures
In light of Malaysia’s recent election, a petition has started on Change.org, gathering support for Anwar Ibrahim to become the country’s 10th PM.
At the time of writing, the petition titled “Malaysians want DSAI (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) to be their 10th Prime Minister!” has garnered at least 250,000 signatures.
Source: Change.org
The aim of the petition, according to the description, seems simple:
Malaysians want a clean, fair and efficient government who do not play the racial or religion card.
Judging by the outcome of GE15, where Barisan Nasional (BN) gained just 30 seats, Malaysians appear to feel strongly about having a non-racial or religious-centric government. This is a clear shift from the prior administration when BN was the ruling coalition for decades.
During GE14 in 2018, PH formed the government but did not see Mr Anwar ascend to the top position. Instead, Dr Mahathir Mohamad took the seat.
After allegedly promising Mr Anwar the role, Dr Mahathir abruptly resigned in 2020, collapsing the PH government and leaving the former empty-handed.
Both PH & PN want to form the next government
At the same time, PN, which includes the religion-focused Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), has also expressed confidence in forming the government. In alliance with PAS, it won 73 seats at GE15.
While PH won 82 seats at GE15, it still requires 30 seats to form the government. Mr Anwar has stated that he requires numbers with Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs making up the remainder. Whether the coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) will accept the collaboration remains uncertain.
BN has yet to commit publicly to a coalition. Certain MPs such as Mr Hishammuddin Hussein have stated that they’re ready for their party to let them go if it aligns with PH.
However, UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he has the final say on who BN follows.
Ultimately, the final decision on who forms the government rests with the king. He will be hearing the submissions by both coalitions at 2pm today (22 Nov).
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Featured image adapted from Anwar Ibrahim on Facebook.
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