KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s king will name a new prime minister as soon as possible but the appointee will have to face a confidence vote in parliament to prove his majority, the palace said in a statement on Wednesday.
Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister on Monday after conceding he had lost his majority in parliament but remains caretaker premier until a successor is named.
He did not face a confidence vote in the 17 months that he held office despite repeated calls to do so.
The resignation has deepened a months-long political crisis as Malaysia grapples with a COVID-19 surge and an economic slump. No political party has a majority in parliament, so the winning candidate has to put together a coalition.
King Al-Sultan Abdullah, the constitutional monarch, will appoint a premier who he thinks can command a majority. He has given members of parliament until 4 p.m. local time (0800 GMT) to submit the name of one candidate they want as premier.
In a statement, the palace said the prime minister appointed by the king must table a motion of confidence in parliament as soon as possible to prove “legitimately that he has the majority.”
The king also asked the various political parties to work together.
“His Majesty... (has) expressed that the unending political turmoil without any full stop has disrupted the government’s governance during a time when we still face the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the palace said.
Malaysia has been in a state of political flux since widespread graft accusations led to the 2018 election defeat of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which had governed for more than 60 years since independence.
Mahathir Mohamad led the opposition to election victory for the first time, but the alliance collapsed from infighting last year.
Muhyiddin then put together a coalition with political parties that were defeated in the polls, including UMNO, but that alliance was also fragile.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Muhyiddin’s deputy and an UMNO politician, emerged as the leading candidate to be the next prime minister.
He has secured a majority from political parties that were in Muhyiddin’s coalition, media reported, citing UMNO officials.
Ismail Sabri spearheaded security policies during the COVID-19 crisis and was promoted to deputy prime minister in July.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was also trying to secure the numbers to form a government, media reported.
Malaysia’s king wants new premier to face confidence vote
https://arab.news/w6b9x
Malaysia’s king wants new premier to face confidence vote
- Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister on Monday after conceding he had lost his majority in parliament
- King Al-Sultan Abdullah, the constitutional monarch, will appoint a premier who he thinks can command a majority
171 bodies found in mass graves in eastern Congo, an official says
- Authorities found two mass graves with at least 171 dead bodies in the Kiromoni and Kavimvira
- M23’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment
KINSHASA: Congolese authorities and a civil society group said Thursday that mass graves were found in part of eastern Congo that the M23 rebel group has recently withdrawn from, as fighting in the region escalates despite a US-mediated peace deal.
The governor of South-Kivu province, Jacques Purusi, said authorities found two mass graves with at least 171 dead bodies in the Kiromoni and Kavimvira neighborhoods on the outskirts of the eastern city of Uvira.
“At this stage, we have identified two sites: one mass grave containing approximately 30 bodies in Kiromoni, not far from the Burundian border on the Congolese side, and another in Kavimvira where 141 bodies were found,” Purusi told The Associated Press over the phone.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim. M23’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Executive Secretariat of the Local Network for the Protection of Civilians, a civil society group in the region, said Thursday it wanted to visit the mass graves but was prevented from doing so by the Congolese military.
Information gathered so far indicates that the victims were killed by M23 rebels, said Yves Ramadhani, the group’s vice president.
The governor and the civil society group alleged that the rebels killed the individuals because they suspected them of belonging to the Congolese army or a pro-government militia.
Both the Congolese military and M23 have been accused of extrajudicial killings and abuses by rights groups.
