KUALA LUMPUR - Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be sworn in as Malaysia's ninth prime minister on Saturday (Aug 21), marking his party's return to power just three years after it lost federal power for the first time since the country's independence.
Datuk Seri Ismail will be the country's third premier since the historic 2018 elections, when the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition was voted out of power for the first time in 61 years.
However, prolonged political uncertainty that followed the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government early last year finally resulted in Umno returning to assume the PM post.
Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah will swear in Mr Ismail at 2.30pm, five days after his predecessor Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister following a loss of parliamentary majority.
Mr Ismail, similar to Mr Muhyiddin, will lead the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition with a slim majority until Malaysia recovers from its current Covid-19 crisis and a general election can be called. He has the support of 114 out of 220 sitting MPs in Parliament - a nine-seat advantage over the opposition, which controls 105 seats.
Another senior Umno MP, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, abstained from supporting Mr Ismail.
Malaysia's Lower House has 222 seats, but two seats remain vacant following the death of the incumbents, with a by-election not being called so far due to the persistently high number of Covid-19 cases.
Mr Ismail's immediate task would be focused on recovering Malaysia from its current Covid-19 and economic crises. Much of the country's businesses have been shut since May to stem an outbreak of infections that had only gotten worse despite months of lockdown.
Malaysia however has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and Mr Muhyiddin previously said that the country expects to reopen much of its economy by October this year.
Leading a loose coalition, Mr Ismail also has to select a Cabinet line-up that would keep at least seven parties happy, with the biggest contributor being his predecessor Mr Muhyiddin's PN coalition which has 54 seats.
Mr Ismail, 61, is the MP for the Bera ward in Pahang. He is in his fourth term as MP, and has served as a Cabinet minister for 10 years between 2008 and 2018 during Umno's rule.
Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob with then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Putrajaya on July 7, 2020. PHOTO: BERNAMA
He became Umno vice-president following the party's shock loss at 2018 polls, and also became opposition leader in the same year. However, he was appointed senior minister for security with the defence ministry portfolio under Mr Muhyiddin's PN administration after PH's collapse early last year.
Last month, he was promoted to the post of deputy prime minister by Mr Muhyiddin, before ascending to the country's top post this week.
Mr Ismail won the race ahead of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who earlier on Saturday urged his supporters to redirect their focus on Malaysia's 15th general election which has to be held by 2023.
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2021-08-21 02:55:57Z
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