In Malaysia, king appoints new prime minister after predecessor resigns

The Malaysian king has picked former Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri to be the country's new prime minister, and he is to be sworn on this weekend, the Royal Household said on [20 August]. Ismail Sabri will replace his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin, whose cabinet resigned this past Monday over lawmakers' dismay over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly affected the national economy. The Malaysian constitution entails two scenarios for the case of a prime minister's premature resignation. The first one includes the dissolution of parliament followed by holding of snap elections, while the second envisages the appointment of a new prime minister by the king to fill the position until the current parliamentary term expires. A caretaker prime minister should have the support of the majority of lawmakers. Ismail Sabri's appointment was dictated by the second path. He received the support of 114 lawmakers out of the 220-member body. The elected will have to face a vote of confidence in parliament. The appointment marks the return to power of the United Malaysia National Organization (UMNO), of which Ismail Sabri is vice president, and which lost the majority in the 2018 general elections for the first time in 60 years.
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