Mahatir Mohamed Rejects new PM | Malaysian King will look for Mahatirs | Effects on South East Asian Politics.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s political crisis deepened on Saturday after 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad rejected a decision by the king to pick his rival as the next prime minister, insisting he had enough backing to return to the role. Ex-interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin was earlier named for the job by the monarch, who appoints the country´s premiers after deciding who has backing from MPs, signalling a defeat for Mahathir and the return of a scandal-plagued party to power. It capped a week of turmoil that began when Mahathir´s "Pact of Hope" alliance collapsed and he resigned as prime minister following a bid by his rivals to form a new government and push out leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim. Their alliance stormed to a historic victory in 2018 that broke the six-decade stranglehold on power of a corruption-riddled coalition, but it was riven by infighting over who should succeed the world´s oldest leader. The victory of Muhyiddin and his coalition, which is dominated by ...