Malaysia’s king Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has not made a final decision on who the next prime minister (PM) will be, according to Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Reports emerged that Mr Anwar was named the interim PM of Malaysia, but the rumours now seemingly prove to be false.
A tweet claiming that Anwar was PM has since been deleted.
Source: @thevibesnews on Twitter
Sites including Berita Harian that have published that information have since removed their posts.
Malaysia had a hung Parliament after the recently-concluded general election as no party managed to secure at least 112 seats.
After the 2pm deadline today, the king said both coalitions were found to not have achieved a simple majority to form the next government. He’ll make his final decision in due course.
In a press conference following his audience with the king, Mr Anwar said that the king desires a “strong and inclusive” government that’s able to focus on the people and resuscitate the economy.
Prior to his declaration, the Malay Mail reported that the king had asked to see both Mr Anwar and Mr Muhyiddin Yassin of Perikatan Nasional at 4.30pm today (22 Nov).
Neither coalition had managed to obtain a simple majority after Barisan Nasional (BN) pulled out of all offers to form a government.
BN stated it will remain as an opposition in Parliament.
While footage surfaced of Mr Muhyiddin reportedly leaving the royal palace, Astro Awani journalist Firdaus Ali claimed in a tweet that Mr Anwar remained inside for over half an hour.
Soon after, several media sites alleged that the latter had become the interim PM. However, those tweets and articles swiftly disappeared.
Reports emerged thereafter, including by Channel NewsAsia (CNA), confirming that the king has yet to make his decision.
The wait continues for Mr Anwar who has only been a PM candidate since as far back as the 90s when he was in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
After he became Deputy PM, however, he fell out with Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He eventually served a jail sentence for sodomy in April 1999.
Following his jail sentence, the two worked together in 2018 to win GE14, forming a government as PH. Mr Anwar also received a royal pardon.
But he later lost his chance at taking the top seat as PM again after Dr Mahathir allegedly refused to hand over the reins. The latter abruptly resigned as PM in 2020, causing a government collapse.
Mr Anwar subsequently returned to being the leader of the opposition, running in the recent GE15.
With the question of the next PM still hanging in the balance, we can only wait for the king’s official announcement to know for sure.
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Featured image adapted from Anwar Ibrahim on Facebook.
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